The Barrie Blizzard picked up their second win in convincing fashion with a 14-9 win over the Iroquois Ironmen. Although the Ironmen are also a last place team, the Blizzard still played a great and showed the rest of the league that when they play as a team they can dominate.
Tyler Patterson had three goals in the victory and opened up the scoring for Barrie on a nice pass from Mike MacLeod who tallied three assists in the game. The two teams traded goals until midway through the second quarter when Caleb Wiles came alive scoring two powerplay goals just 41 seconds apart. Wiles would score two more goals in the game while adding two assists for his fourth 6 point game in a month; he scored 6 points versus the Toronto Shooting Stars exactly one month to the day.
It looked like the Ironmen were staging a comeback when they scored three unanswered goals late in the third. However, Tyler Patterson would score just 16 seconds into the fourth and knocked Iroquois’ comeback train right off the tracks.
Derek Collins was a brick wall in the Blizzard net; he made 37 saves including some big stops early which allowed his team to pull away. Collins has been shaky at times this season so it was nice to see the former Peterborough Laker veteran get a well earned W in this one.
Reed “The Beast” Board had another solid game as he contributed with 1 goal and 2 assists for his second 3 point game in as many days. Board has been one of the most consistent Blizzard this season and the CLax rookie has been improving with every game. He’s listed at the 5’11 and 185 pounds but the guy plays like he is 6’2 – 220. We’ve seen him bulldoze his way to the net several times this year and opponents are starting to take notice of his physical prowess.
The Ironmen were led by their usually suspects including a hat trick from 18 year old phenom. Josh Johnson. Johnson has scored a point in every game this season and if he stays in the Canadian Lacrosse League, he’ll be the player to watch in the coming years.
Six teams make the playoffs so Barrie’s post season hopes remain alive as they have four games left including three in front of their hometown crowd. They play next weekend at home versus Brampton and then the following Sunday they host the Durham TurfDogs. The latter game is on Easter Sunday so if you’re looking for some family entertainment , head over to the Molson Centre for some Canadian Lacrosse League action; you won’t be disappointed.
