The Neepawa Natives were soundly defeated on Friday night in Dauphin by a score of 9-1, giving the Dauphin squad a one game lead in the best of seven opening round series.

 

While Coach Bryant Perrier says that being negative and pointing fingers can soothe a coach's ego after a loss, he is choosing to take a different approach.

 

"Our team has a philosophy of brotherhood, of sticking together and watching each other's backs," the coach said. "Who am I to come out publically and point fingers? What I will do is stand at the front of the line and take the criticism for and with our team. We win as a team and we lose as a team."

 

"I stand with and beside my team in good and bad."

 

Perrier believes that adversity is what creates integrity in the shaping of a team.

 

"Would I rather win every game by ten goals?," he said rhetorically. "Of course. But, that is not where we are at right now. Right now, we have to find solutions."

 

The coach was also clear that the team must move on from the loss.

 

"I don't want to be casual about the loss, because we just have too many people who work very hard, who deserve a lot more than for  me to say 'ho hum we lost'," Perrier said. "We are hurting and we are disappointed for ourselves, our fans and our organization."

 

"But, we have to move on. We have to have short memories and move on."

 

Moving on will be a well thought out process, according to the coach.

 

"We need to help certain guys get back on track, we need to help re-establish our team's philosophies and we need to get some areas of concern addressed."

 

As for those areas, the coach says those are for his coaching staff to discuss.

 

"I am here to build these guys up again - that is my job," he said. "We will handle them internally and with the goal of restoring confidence and direction in our guys."

 

The coach says that rebounding from a loss takes discipline and humility.

 

"Who am I to start ranting and raving? he asked. "Any fool can rant and rave and destruct a team after a loss. I am in the construction business. The wall fell down. We will pick it back up and reconstruct it. And as the foreman, I will take responsibility for it."

 

Staying positive is not a difficult thing according to the coach.

 

"I admire every one of our guys and what they have done for this team this year," he said. "They have earned my support and certainly earned the right to have an off night without people making the environment toxic."

 

Perrier says that it is his players' attitude that makes it easy for him to remain committed to being a positive part of the solution.

 

"Our guys have shown a lot of character and integrity toward the game and each other and not turning on each other in tough times and times of adversity. I owe them the same type of approach."

 

"We have an opportunity to bounce back and make this a distant memory. I expect our guys to be great, to a man, on Sunday."