IL Indoor

IL Indoor, Ontario Junior B

Video: Green Gaels tune up for Halton Hills with Saturday’s win over Newmarket

If you’re wondering how the Green Gaels are 14-1-1 at this point of the season, this video highlight package of Saturday’s win over Newmarket gives you a pretty good idea. But it may not be so free-flowing later this week as the Green Gaels get set for their rematch with Halton Hills, which also boasts a fine mark at 13-1-1. Thursday’s rematch will try to produce a winner this time, as the teams tied, 14-14, back on June 8.

IL Indoor, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B

OLA Juniors Notebook: O’Connor displays steady presence as Whitby Warriors leader

Reilly O'Connor

The hockey world’s loss is the lacrosse world’s gain. We’ve heard that before, haven’t we? The latest we hear that about is Reilly O’Connor, and the Whitby Warriors and Georgetown Hoyas have no complaints. O’Connor’s dream of OHL hockey went unrealized when he wasn’t drafted, that shifted his focus to lacrosse. And his talent there is undeniable, to the point that Georgetown offered him a scholarship to play there solely on the recommendation of his coaches at The Hill Academy. “They never saw me play, told me to come down for a visit,” O’Connor told DurhamRegion.com. “I went down, loved it. They gave me an offer and I accepted right away. I didn’t check anywhere else out.” But if you’re a Whitby Warriors fan, you’ve probably seen O’Connor play and you can understand why Georgetown did what it did. READ MORE »

Alberta Junior A, B.C. Junior A, IL Indoor, MSL, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Senior B, WLA

Last Night: Burnaby, Coquitlam victorious in what’s shaping up to be a crazy WLA season

After a slow start, the Coquitlam Adanacs have won 3 of their last 4 WLA games. (Photo: Dan Brodie)

Remember that coach you had back in the day who taught you to play through the whistle? The way this 2013 Western Lacrosse Association season is shaping up, each of the 7 teams in that loop would be wise to heed such advice. The reason why is made evident by recent scores this summer, including last night’s 2 games that saw the Burnaby Lakers drop the Maple Ridge Burrards, 11-7, and the Coquitlam Adanacs drop the Nanaimo Timbermen, 9-6. What’s the big deal? Burnaby’s win snaps a 2-game losing streak that came after a 3-game winning streak. And Coquitlam won for the third time in 4 games after opening the season 0-4. That’s just the way it’s going in the WLA, where the top 5 teams are within 4 points of each other. READ MORE »

B.C. Junior A, Brooklin Redmen, Coquitlam Adanacs, Langley Thunder, MSL, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Mann Cup, Road to the Minto Cup, Road to the Presidents Cup, Senior B, Six Nations Chiefs, WLA

Last night: Chiefs and Redmen can’t decide who’s the top team in Major Series Lacrosse

Cody Jamieson, here against Peterborough, scored 3 times for Six Nations. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

The Brooklin Redmen travelled to the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena Saturday to take on the Six Nations Chiefs with the situation clear for both teams. Win and you’re in first place. The teams entered the game with identical 5-1 records. After battling hard for 70 minutes, they exited with identical 5-1-1 records and nothing decided after a 9-9 tie that included a goal by each team in the 10-minute overtime.

The game was close throughout–the score was 4-3 Brooklin after the first period, 6-6 after the second and 8-8 after the third. Stephen Keogh scored at 3:47 of the overtime but Jake Hayes responded at 8:10 with the game’s final goal. READ MORE »

B.C. Junior A, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Mann Cup, Road to the Minto Cup

Last night: Shamrocks outduel Burrards in battle for first in WLA

The Victoria Shamrocks are hoping a trio of Rochester Knighthawks will help lead them to a Mann Cup championship, although last night it was an Edmonton Rush and a Washington Stealth who stole the spotlight as the Shamrocks ran off with a 14-9 win over the Maple Ridge Burrards in a battle of teams that were tied atop the Western Lacrosse Association.

Corey Small scored a Curtis Dickson-like 7 goals and 3 assists for Victoria and Mitch Jones added 3 goals and 4 assists as the Shamrocks scored the final four goals to pull in what had been a close game. Dickson continued to lead the league in scoring by a wide margin after scoring 4 goals and 2 assists to lead Maple Ridge. READ MORE »

IL Indoor, Ontario Junior B

Winless Owen Sound keeps the faith in Jr. B

The summer of 2013 has not been kind to the Junior B Owen Sound NorthStars. Twelve games played, 12 games lost. But as much as they’d like to win a game or 2 or more, coach Keith Peer has the long term in focus. “I think we’re on the right path and we can’t deviate and we can panic,” the coach told The Owen Sound Sun Times following last night’s 11-6 loss to the visiting Elora Mohawks. “If we finish 0-20, then we’re 0-20. Hopefully we’re not. But we talk to other teams in the league and they all believe strongly in what we’re doing (going with a young lineup).” That youth certainly has been taking its lumps, losing games by 10, 12 goals earlier this season. But the last few games have been decided by closer scores, indicating improvement that Peer believes will pay off down the road. “As far as I’m concerned we’re not the better team and we have to grind it out every game,” Elora coach Jim Leworthy said. “Maybe in the standings we are but you saw how they played on the floor. They’ve played us hard.”

B.C. Junior A, IL Indoor, MSL, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, WLA

Last Night: Late rally helps Peterborough Lakers avoid upset against Oakville Rock

Scott Evans scored 4 goals last night to help Peterborough avoid an upset loss to Oakville. (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

How close was Oakville to pulling off the upset of Peterborough last night? Close enough where the Rock had a 12-9 lead with 7 minutes left in regulation. The Lakers needed 4 goals in those final minutes to win and that’s exactly what they got as newcomer Pat Saunders, Shawn Evans and Cory Vitarelli all scored goals before Mark Steenhuis scored the winner at 17:44 to help the Lakers win 13-12 and improve their record at home to 4-0. The Lakers were without coach Jamie Batley, who was serving the third game of his 5-game suspension from last year’s Mann Cup, and assistant Bobby Keast also was away because of a death in the family. That left Jim Milligan and Joe Sullivan to run the Peterborough bench, and they had their hands full with a Rock team eager to get its second win of the season. READ MORE »

B.C. Junior A, Brampton Excelsiors, Brooklin Redmen, MSL, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Mann Cup, Road to the Minto Cup

Last night: Blowouts across the country

Shawn Williams had 8 points to lead Brooklin in a romp over Brampton. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

In a season that has seen plenty of close games, Wednesday was a night for a pair of blowouts in Major Series Lacrosse and the Western Lacrosse Association. The Brooklin Redmen regained a share of first place in MSL by thumping the Brampton Excelsiors 15-3 while the Langley Thunder moved within a game of the lead in the WLA by pounding the Nanaimo Timbermen 14-5.

In Brooklin, the Redmen led 7-3 after two periods then really opened up the throttle with an 8-0 third frame. Shawn Williams scored 2 goals and 6 assists and five other players had at least 3 points each, including Kiel Matisz with 2 goals and 2 assists and John Lafontaine with 2 goals and 1 assist. Steve Fryer stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced to earn the win. Joe Resetarits was the only multi-point scorer with 2 goals and an assist for Brampton, which falls to 1-5. READ MORE »

IL Indoor, Ontario Junior B

Green Gaels find silver lining in challenges

The Junior B Green Gaels are 2-1-1 in their last 4 since a 10-0 start to the season. Disappointing? Maybe, maybe not. “Right now it’s just cleaning up certain areas and having the guys play in games like that, especially our rookies, and understanding how to be ahead and what to do when you are ahead,” coach Jason Crosbie told DurhamRegion.com. “”I learned a lot about certain individuals and that will bode well for the future.” Those games would a June 1 loss to Akwesasne and a June 8 tie with Halton Hills. And even though the Green Gaels did not emerge with wins in those games, lessons were learned that Crosbie said will bear fruit down the road. The Junior B season is starting to wind down and Clarington’s confidence remains solid as it makes a playoff push, especially with the offensive leadership of Dylan Goddard. The forward recently became the franchise leader in goals (171), assists (347) and points (518), which ranks him No. 21 all-time in Junior B history.

IL Indoor, MSL, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B

Last Night: Peterborough hits daily double with victories for Seniors and Juniors

The return of Paxton Laroux (20) brings toughness and leadership to the Peterborough defense. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

There’s been a lot of these lately in Peterborough: A good night of lacrosse. The Senior Lakers rolled to a 13-5 win over Oakville last night while the Junior A Lakers got the job done with a 17-5 win over Mississauga. While the big boys got some production from the usuals — Mark Steenhuis and Scott Evans each scored 2 goals while Shawn Evans scored 3 — the Juniors are finding the defense of Paxton Laroux very much to their liking. “He is a tough kid and he brings a lot of leadership,” Lakers coach Mat Giles told The Peterborough Examiner. READ MORE »