IL Indoor

B.C. Junior A, Coquitlam Adanacs, Langley Thunder, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Mann Cup, Road to the Minto Cup, Senior A, WLA

Last night: Thunder prevail in defensive struggle with Adanacs

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 »

B.C. Junior A, CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, Off the Rug, Road to the Minto Cup

BCJALL Power Rankings- And they’re off

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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IL Indoor, Ontario Junior A, Road to the Minto Cup

OLA Jr A Power Rankings: From Arrows to Tomahawks

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 »

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

Last night: Toronto Beaches showing signs of progress

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 »

Alberta Junior A, B.C. Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Minto Cup, Road to the Presidents Cup, Senior A, Senior B

Last night: Saints & James Gang remain perfect in OLA Sr B, plus all the scores

The St. Catharines Saints and Norwood James Gang both remained perfect, each posting their fifth straight win to open the OLA Senior B season Saturday, and they’re on target for a clash of the titans in two weeks. St. Catharines rode Corey Fowler’s 7-point night (3g, 4a) and a hat trick from transition man Jay Thorimbert to a 16-9 thrashing of the Owen Sound North Stars. Norwood blanked Sarnia 3-0 in the third period to pull out a gritty 6-4 win over the Beavers to keep pace.

The James Gang gave up the first goal to Sarnia but then replied with a trio of their own to lead 3-1 after the first period. Chad Evans got Norwood’s first two goals on outside shots then Greg Reilly buried a beautiful touch pass over a pair of defenders from Gavin Barrie. READ MORE »

Burnaby Lakers, Coquitlam Adanacs, Nanaimo Timbermen, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Mann Cup, Road to the Minto Cup, Senior A, Victoria Shamrocks, WLA

Last night: Shamrocks and Timbermen win Western Lacrosse Association openers

Defender Ben McCullough was named third star of Victoria's season-opening WLA win.

The Victoria Shamrocks have been loading up for a run at the Mann Cup this year. The early returns are positive—in the form of a 10-6 season-opening win over Coquitlam in which they outshot the Adanacs 63-39. The Shamrocks ran out to a 4-0 lead after the first period and only high save percentages by Nick Rose (.833 in the first period) and Adam Shute (.846 the rest of the way) kept the margin of victory from being bigger.

Scott Ranger scored a hat trick and Cory Conway assisted on 7 of the Shamrocks’ 10 goals. Corey Small scored once and added 4 assists to help Victoria’s cause. Shamrocks’ goalie Matt Flindell posted the exact same numbers as Shute did—33 saves on 39 shots—to earn the win.

Coquitlam’s scoring was spread around with six different players scoring goals. Eastern import Jesse Guerin was their points leader with a goal and 2 assists in his WLA debut. Guerin finished second in Major Series Lacrosse last year with 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points in 14 games. READ MORE »

IL Indoor, Ontario Junior A, Ontario Junior B, Road to the Founders, Road to the Minto Cup, Road to the Presidents Cup, Senior B

Last night: James Gang continue perfect run to start the season

The Norwood James Gang are out to prove that the Ontario Senior B lacrosse league isn’t a one-team race, and so far they’re doing a pretty good job of it. The St. Catharines Saints are getting lots of attention for the additions they’ve made to the team that already won the last two league titles and earned medals at the last two Presidents Cups. But Norwood has made some additions as well, and they’ve come out to a 4-0 start with last night’s dominating 15-6 win over the Brooklin Merchants, who knocked them out in the first round of playoffs last year.

“We play every year to win. We put out the best effort and we want a championship,” James Gang forward Matt Evans told IL Indoor after the game. “Every year we have a shot, this year I think we have a great chance at it. We’ve got a couple new additions and some real good guys coming off long layoffs.” READ MORE »

Alberta Junior A, B.C. Junior A, CLA, IL Indoor, Inside Lacrosse, Ontario Junior A, Road to the Minto Cup, The Buzz

Queens Park Arena to host 2013 Minto Cup

Get ready B.C. lacrosse fans, high-energy, high-skilled, intense lacrosse action is coming your way this August as the Minto Cup is returning to British Columbia for the 2013 Minto Cup championship. Hosted by the British Columbia Lacrosse Association (BCLA) and the BC Junior ‘A’ Lacrosse League (BCJALL), the Canadian Lacrosse Association’s (CLA) Canadian Junior ‘A’ National Championship will operate in its current four-team format. The championship will start with round-robin play on Saturday August 17 at Queens Park Arena in New Westminster, B.C. After four days of round-robin play, the championship round will begin Thursday August 22 with the final two teams competing for the coveted title in a best-of-five playoff series. READ MORE »

IL Indoor, Road to the Minto Cup

CLA unveils changes to Minto Cup format

The four parties that comprise the Minto Cup Committee, a standing committee of the Canadian Lacrosse Association (CLA), have come to an agreement that will see a change in how the premier Junior ‘A’ national championship, the Minto Cup, is formatted. Starting in 2014, the Minto Cup will move from its current four-team tournament format to a best-of-seven East versus West playoff series. The champions from the British Columbia Junior ‘A’ Lacrosse League (BCJALL) will compete against the champions from the Alberta Junior ‘A’ League for the right to represent the West in the Minto Cup playoffs. From there, the stage will be set for the Western champion to face the Eastern champion in a to-be-determined location in British Columbia. In 2015, it will follow the same format, B.C. versus Alberta, with the winner traveling to with the Minto Cup championship being held in Ontario that year. READ MORE »

Ontario Junior A, Road to the Minto Cup

Lakers and Lakeshores successful in Jr A season openers, plus the links

It was all about the lakes on the opening weekend of OLA Junior A action. The Peterborough Lakers and Barrie Lakeshores each scored 9 goals and won their first games of the season. Peterborough, missing about half of their full lineup with players still away at school, downed the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves 9-7 behind a pair of goals each from Dan Michel and Cam Milligan. Kyle Jackson (3g, 1a) and Chris Cloutier (1g, 3a) each had 4-point nights for the Braves. The Lakers held Braves star Dhane Smith, who led the league in scoring last year and just finished a standout rookie season with the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League, to a goal and 2 assists. READ MORE »