IL Indoor

Rod Squire scored 2 goals as Six Nations beat Burlington on Sunday to improve 8-0 in Junior A. (Photo: Ward Laforme Jr.)

Six Nations is on a roll on more than one level in the 2011 summer lacrosse seasons. The Junior A Arrows are cruising along at 8-0 and tied for first place with St. Catharines with 16 points. The Junior B Rebels also are cruising, sitting 14-0 with 28 points for a comfortable lead over the Spartans in the South West division. Both are the only undefeated teams in their loops and as much as they’ll take that, they’ve known too much playoff heartbreak the last few seasons to settle for success in the regular season. The Arrows have been eliminated the last 3 seasons by Orangeville and the Rebels have been excused the last 2 seasons by Elora. It’s obviously still too early to start counting chickens before they’re hatched, but both sides are making strong cases that their playoff shortcomings have a good chance at coming to an end.

The Arrows are getting it done with a thorough defense that’s held every opponent this season to less than 9 goals. And even that game, against Barrie, the Arrows scored 17 goals so the outcome wasn’t really in doubt. Goalie Warren Hill has been the leader on the defensive end, leading all Junor A keepers with an impressive 5.25 goals-against average. Even better is his 84% save percentage. So he’s helped allay fears of the loss of Davide DiRuscio, who backstopped the Arrows last summer with a 3.96 goals-against average but was traded this past offseason to Burlington.

So is this the year the Arrows win it all? The offense is in good hands with leader Alex Kedoh-Hill, a rookie last winter with the NLL’s Edmonton Rush, is the team’s scoring leader with 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists). That puts him on a pace for 129 points. In his 8 games so far, he’s been held to 1 point in 1 game and has not scored less than 5 in the other 7, which also includes outings of 10 points and 9 points. Ten more players are in double figures so there’s plenty of balance as the Arrows work to reverse the trend of losing to Orangeville in the postseason. The Northmen eliminated the Arrows in 2010 (finals), 2009 (semifinals) and 2008 (finals).

The Rebels are just as impressive this season, outscoring foes 237-92 through 14 games. Goalie Don Alton, who was 7-0 with a 5.71 GAA and 85% save percentage last year in limited action, has been solid again this summer with an 8-0 record (6.41 GAA, 81%). Only 3 of the team’s 14 opponents have cracked double digits.

An incredible 17 players have scored in double digits with Chris Attwood’s 95 points (44-51) leading the way. The 237 goals are second only to the 257 scored by the Green Gaels, but Clarington also has played 2 more games than Six Nations. It bodes well for a team, that like it’s Junior A brethren, is working to reverse a playoff trend as of late. The Rebels have been ousted in the semifinals the last 2 summers by Elora, both series going to the Mohawks, 3-2.

Plus the links

Having just 2 wins in 12 games is no excuse to lay down, and coach Rodney Tapp let his Junior B Owen Sound ProTeam NorthStars know about it after Sunday’s 12-6 loss to Niagara. “They quit and you have no pride in yourself or your team or your uniform if you do that,” Tapp said. The coach went on to say that there are “five or six real cancers in that room” and that Tuesday’s practice will include plenty of running. “The ones who don’t want to do it, we’ll get rid of them,” said Tapp. (Owen Sound Sun Times) … If only the Junior B Welland Warlords could play Hamilton every time. Two of Welland’s 4 wins this Junior B season are against the Tigers, including Saturday’s 14-5 victory. Brett Pace and Nicholas Beaudoin each scored 3 goals in Saturday’s win before reality came crashing down on Sunday with an 11-4 loss to Orangeville. (Welland Tribune) … HUGE win for the Junior B Elora Mohawks on Saturday, a 12-10 win over the Mid West-leading Orangeville Northmen. It puts the Mohawks just 3 points behind Orangeville (24-21) and avenges a pair of losses earlier this season. It also extends Elora’s win streak to 5 games. (Guelph Mercury) … The Junior B Niagara Mohawks won back-to-back games for the first time this season, posting impressive weekend victories over Welland (17-10 on Thursday) and Owen Sound (12-6 on Sunday). Of Niagara’s 3 victories this season, 2 are against Welland. (Welland Tribune) … As the Junior B Windsor Clippers split their weekend set (surprising 12-9 home loss to London on Saturday and a 14-4 road win over Sarnia on Sunday), the second-place Wallaceburg Red Devils missed a great chance to close the gap on the Far West-leading Clippers. The Red Devils were dropped 18-8 by Elora on Friday and then lost a 14-9 road game at London, extending Windsor’s lead in the division to 8 points (22-14). Wallaceburg’s losing streak now stands at 4 games. … The Junior C Kingston Kings missed a chance to cut into the lead of Cornwall in the East Division, dropping a 12-4 decision to the Celtics last Thursday. Cornwall maintains a 3-point lead (10-7) in the divison now, but there’s a June 25 rematch in Kingston to keep an eye on. (The Whig) … Fans in Brockville saw their first junior lacrosse game in that town in 35 years and the Junior C Ballistic did not disappoint, giving the 200 fans who showed on Thursday a 13-4 win over the Nepean Knights. At 3-3-1, the Ballistic are tied with Kingston for second place in the East Division. “That was exciting,” said Brockville coach Kevin Wallace. (The Recorder & Times).

Rate This Story:

(+1 rating, 3 votes)

 Loading ...