IL Indoor

Following the early success of Paul Rabil in 2009, many teams jumped on the American bandwagon of developing US field players. With the reduction in preseason training camps and the loss of US-based National Lacrosse League teams, we have seen that trend reversed. If it wasn’t for Johnny Mouradian and Mike French and the Philadelphia Wings organization, and to a lesser extent the Arlottas in Minnesota, there would be almost no Americans in the league. The breakdown below is off this year’s final 23 man rosters. (Read More…)

If you weren’t in Langley, B.C., for the title game to witness the National Lacrosse League’s Champion’s Cup game, then you probably caught the game on television. It’s the next best thing, after all. And you probably heard the call on CBS Sports Network of the final frantic seconds when the Rochester Knighthawks held on to defeat the Washington Stealth. But how many of us heard the calls from the team broadcasters? A few of us, maybe. But here’s your chance now to click on this link and check out the calls from Rochester’s Craig Rybczynski and Washington’s Brad Challoneer. The way it works in sports is someone wins and someone has to lose but there’s no denying that the final seconds of this year’s NLL title game were anything but dull.

Cory Vitarelli, left, will be one of Peterborough's top threats as John Tavares, weighs his future. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

Is it all crashing down in Peterborough? Not quite, but this summer of 2013 is shaping up to be quite the challenge. And as the Lakers prepare for their season opener tonight, Mike Davies of The Peterborough Examiner takes a closer look at a squad that is losing more than it’s taking in. At least with regard to personnel. Some of the more glaring challenges include John Grant Jr. not being able to commit to a full season, John Tavares and his status, Tracey Kelusky coming off a disappointing NLL season, and Kyle Sorensen informing the team he won’t be able to play this summer. Injuries to Andrew Suitor, Andrew Watt and Mac Allen have them benched for the season as well. Throw in some players who went elsewhere — unhappy with their playing time last season — and the Lakers will be without at least 11 to 13 players from last summer. “In a way, they’ve become victims of their own success,” writes Davies. “With such a strong lineup it was hard to find floor-time for some players, many local, who have decided to play elsewhere.” Not all is lost, though, with players like Cory Vitarelli, Shawn Evans, Jordan MacIntosh, and Mark Steenhuis at the ready along with Tyler Carlson and Kevin Croswell in goal. It just might be a bit more challenging in Peterborough this.

The summer lacrosse season is well underway and the road to provincial and national championships are being heavily contested all across this great country by thousands of lacrosse players. But there is a growing concern north of the border and that is player safety. The Canadian Lacrosse Association has come under heavy fire the past few months for a number of issues and the list seems to get longer each passing week. At the top of the list right now is the “mandated” new face-mask policy that every player in any CLA league must wear. The issue with the cages is that they appear to be doing the opposite of what they are intended to do and in just a few short months have allegedly caused numerous injuries. The CLA is Canada’s governing body for the sport of lacrosse and something needs to change quickly before more players get hurt. Players are starting to rally and the question is, will the CLA listen? (Read More…)

Brodie MacDonald stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced in Langley's win.

If you want to win a championship, you need to be able to win games in various ways. Wednesday night, the two-time defending Western Lacrosse Association champion Langley Thunder showed that they can win a defensive battle, shutting out the Coquitlam Adanacs for the final 27:52 to prevail 5-3 at the Langley Events Centre.

Coquitlam scored the only 2 goals of the first period, both coming off the stick of Jesse Guerin. Athan Iannucci and Alex Turner sandwiched second period Langley power play goals around a marker by Matthew Dinsdale to pull the Thunder within one at 3-2 after 40 minutes. Dinsdale would be the last Adanac to be able to beat Brodie MacDonald in the Thunder net. Adam Shute wasn’t giving up much at the other end of the floor, either. But Iannucci connected at 8:01 and Matt Leveque notched the game winner just 59 seconds later. Kyle Belton rounded out the quiet scoring night with just under five minutes to play to ensure the Thunder stayed perfect on the young season, running their record to 2-0. Coquitlam falls to 0-2. (Read More…)

The Langley Thunder sit atop the first BCJALL Power Rankings.

For the first time in over a decade, there will be no automatic qualifier for the Minto Cup and that makes the 2013 season even more hotly contested. There are now two spots up for grabs for the eight teams competing out west and they’re already a month in. After just a few short weeks though, we are already seeing some separation from the top six teams but that’s bound to change as more players return from their college duties down south. The big question will be as it has been the past few seasons, will anyone be able to dethrone the Coquitlam Adanacs as BC champions. Well this year could be the year as the gap continues to close year after year and no longer at the A’s and Bellies guaranteed tickets to the big dance. Queen’s Park Arena will host the 2013 Minto Cup and four teams will compete for the National Championships- the road to Queens Park begins now and eight BC teams want to punch their ticket.

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Randy Staats helps make the Six Nations Arrows a formidable foe. (Photo: Ward Laforme, Jr.)

With all the top-calibre players graduating from OLA Jr A’s two Minto Cup teams from last year, we knew there’d be a lot of change when this summer’s season kicked off. Still, knowing it’ll happen and seeing things like Barrie and Burlington being a combined 5-0 while the Whitby Warriors are 0-2 are completely different. It still feels just a little weird even to write 0-2 beside Whitby after they’ve been such a strong team over the last several seasons. Of course, no one lost more players than the baker’s dozen that graduated from the Orangeville Northmen, but the Hornheads still managed to pulverize the Mississauga Tomahawks 21-2. Some things don’t change. Then again, Orangeville also lost to a Barrie Lakeshores team that has roared out of the gates with a 4-0 start. (Read More…)

Trevor Hines has emerged as a leader for the Spartans of St. Catharines, and it’s totally by design. And patience. “The first season was a little rough, but the second season I started to get a feel for it,” the third-year forward told The St. Catharines Standard. “This season. I’m just trying to lead by example out there. I don’t say much in there.” Hines lets his stick do the talking. Helping the Spartans to a 3-2 start before they lost their last 2, Hines is the team’s second-leading scorer with 6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points. Coach Matt Attwood says there’s no doubt Hines is a player teammates look to and listen to. “Trevor has progressed year after year and we’re counting on him big time this year,” Attwood told the newspaper. “He leads by example, but if he needs to he’ll step up and give a shout or two.” The 3-4 start isn’t as crisp as the Spartans would like, but there’s a lot of lacrosse left to play this summer and the goal remains the same. “I think we want to go to the Founders Hines said. “It’s a legitimate goal but we have lots of work to do obviously.”

It’s not easy to turn a program around and it doesn’t happen overnight. Along the way, you need to take a lot of little steps. Steps like the Toronto Beaches took Tuesday night when they hung with the Peterborough Lakers till well into the third period of their 16-11 Ontario Lacrosse Association Junior A loss. One of the biggest of the little steps came in the way the team responded to a pair of Lakers goals in the final minute of the first period that erased a surprising 6-4 Beaches lead and sent the teams into the intermission tied.

The first came on a top-corner bullet from way outside by Cam Milligan. The second was a real dagger. Turner Evans‘ shot from right wing missed the net, bounced off the back boards and ricocheted right into the stick of Nate White, who dove across the crease and flicked the ball into the net with 0.7 seconds to play. (Read More…)

Jacq

It started back in early February and here we are at the end of May. That’s 15 long and teasingly playful weeks of our National Lacrosse League Girl of the Week contest. And what it’s come down to is one champion, who is to be crowned the NLL Girl of the Year by ILIndoor. So many of the matchups were intriguing with blondes squaring off against brunettes and dancers from East teams facing off against dancers from West teams. And so here, on May 21, 2013, ILIndoor presents to your NLL Girl of the Year: Jacq, of the Calgary Drill Crew. Her road to the top was eventful and we’ll retrace that road for you after the jump, along with a few new pictures of our 2013 champ. (Read More…)