Matthew Caruk

OJLL: St. Catharines Athletics capture Iroquois Trophy

August 23, 2021

Canadian Junior A lacrosse fans went 18 months without lacrosse. And then they were treated to all the lacrosse. The Ontario Junior Lacrosse League returned from their pandemic-caused hiatus with a vengeance featuring a new brand, new commissioner, 22-year-olds, and a packed schedule of 47 games spread over three weekends (six playing days) at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre. The schedule also featured two divisions – East (Whitby, Mimico, Toronto,…

Caruk: OJLL season provided a sense of healing

August 17, 2021

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Lacrosse is back, and nature is healing. Those were the words Pat Gregoire said to me as we finished our Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL) Futures’ Division Final broadcast (a 13-10 win for Peterborough Lakers win over Burlington), my final game providing play-by-play. It wasn’t until then I realized, after 18 months off, how much I missed live games, and how much I needed them back. Over three weekends, as…

PLL: Teat gets Atlas back on track

July 14, 2021

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Death, taxes, Trevor Baptiste winning faceoffs, and Jeff Teat putting up ridiculous points. The true truths in life, and the Premier Lacrosse League. Teat registered eight points Saturday (four goals), Baptiste went 19 for 27 at the dot, and JD Colarusso (starting in net in place of injured Jack Concannon) made 10 saves (53 per cent) as the Atlas dominated Chaos 16-10. Both teams entered the contest looking for back-to-back…

PLL: Whipsnakes and Archers play a barn burner for first place

July 9, 2021

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Is there anything better than a Sunday afternoon battle for first place on Premier Lacrosse League weekend? For fans, no. Especially when they were treated to the back-and-forth affair that was Whipsnakes/Archers for top spot in PLL. For Archers, yes. A win would’ve been better than just being part of the epic clash as Whipsnakes had three players with hat-tricks en route to a 15-14 victory over Archers. Archers entered…

PLL: Archers in first after win over Chaos

June 17, 2021

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The Premier Lacrosse League’s second weekend of action came to a close Sunday with the Archers using an 11-2 scoring run over the final three quarters to beat Chaos 12-8. The win vaults the Archers to the top of the PLL standings with a 2-0 record – tied with Whipsnakes, but ahead on goal differential – while the Chaos second loss in Atlanta keeps them winless on the season, now…

NLL Expansion Draft 2021: Predicting the Toronto Rock’s protected list

June 10, 2021

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The deadline for National Lacrosse League teams to submit protected rosters is Tuesday, June 15th. There are two different options for how players may be protected: Five offense, five defense, one goalie (or five O, six D) Four offense, seven defense, one goalie (or four O, eight D) The most recent expansion draft was held in 2019 when both the Rochester Knighthawks and New York Riptide selected. This will be…

PLL: Archers rout Atlas 18-6 on opening weekend

June 6, 2021

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Welcome to the Premier Lacrosse League, Ryan McNamara. The Archers’ second-round pick in the PLL Entry Draft scored a hattrick in his team’s first half, helping lead them to an 18-6 rout over Atlas on Saturday night. Eleven different Archers scored over the course of the triple-header finale, en route to shooting over 62 per cent for the game. Of their 26 shots on net, the first eight counted in…

NLL: Reaction to Rock move swift and varied

May 13, 2021

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The Toronto Rock revealed one of the worst kept secrets among lacrosse insiders: they will be relocating from Toronto, where they resided for over 20 years, to the city of their birth – Hamilton, Ontario (when they were the Ontario Raiders). The two teams aren’t officially associated (different owners), but it’s largely accepted they share history (more on this below). The announcement was made during a season ticket holders’ town…

OLA: Ontario Lacrosse University a weekend of education and inspiration

March 30, 2021

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Fun, inclusivity and respect. Those were the repetitive themes over the nearly 40 sessions that made up Ontario Lacrosse University last weekend. Hosted as a series of Zoom calls open for free to OLA members, or to the public for $25, the online conference filled the void of the cancelled OLA meetings and annual LaxCon with a virtual Ted Conference with lacrosse vibes. Speakers represented leaders from many areas of…

PLL: Switch to Peacock may leave Canadian fans missing lacrosse this summer

March 14, 2021

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When the Premier Lacrosse League opens their 2021 season the weekend of June 4th, fans can find them in a new broadcast home. Earlier this month the PLL announced a new exclusive streaming partnership with Peacock, NBCUniversal’s newest streaming service. This will mark the third season of the partnership between the PLL and NBC. The change is not surprising given NBC announced plans to shut down NBC Sports Network at…

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