The Orangeville Northmen entered the OLA Junior A playoffs on a great run. The streak propelled the Horn Heads to a first round sweep of the Burlington Chiefs, and a hard-fought 4-1 series victory over Whitby. While the second round was a rougher series, Orangeville dominated the Warriors for the majority. The same could be said about the Six Nations Arrows who, before the final round, had yet to lose a playoff game. That all changed Thursday night when a late Arrows’ comeback was spoiled by a seven goal Northmen run in overtime. With Orangeville up 1-0 in the series, the teams moved to the “Bunny Barn” (Tony Rose Memorial Arena in Orangeville) for game two.
Game two opened with a frantic pace before the Arrows hit the board twice in thirty-one seconds. Rob Hellyer stopped the run just twenty-two seconds later and the goal kick-started a four goal Orangeville run spanning thirteen and a half minutes. Twenty-six seconds following Jeremy Noble’s 4-2 goal, Shayne Adams scored a beautiful goal as he dove through the crease to pull Six Nations within one at the break.
The second period saw just one goal, and it came seventy-six seconds before the horn. However, the frame was not without action. The teams battled back and forth and Dillon Ward for Orangeville and Warren Hill traded save for save both keeping their teams in it. On the evening Ward needed just twenty-six saves for the victory, while Hill had one more than double that total in a losing cause.
The third period was hampered by floor conditions as play was continuously stopped and started to towel down sweat marks both on the floor and in the creases. The repeated stoppages slowed the pace of the period, but the teams still managed to trade goals to start off. Six Nations’ marker came from Seth Oakes on the powerplay, just the Arrows second of the evening, and only the fourth overall. Brandon Benn and Jordan Critch finished the night off for Orangeville as the Northmen down the Arrows at home 8-4, and take a two game lead in the series.
Game three will go Monday night at 8pm EST at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. http://www.webcast-sports.com/
******************************************************************
Meanwhile, at the ILA on Saturday, Major Series Lacrosse’s division finals got underway with the Six Nations Chiefs hosting the Brampton Excelsiors. The game was held in the afternoon so those players dressing for the Hamilton Nationals at night would be able to make both matches. However, the afternoon game meant a number of Brampton’s top players were unable to make the trip West, including their top goaltender Anthony Cosmo. Brandon Noble was called into action as a result, with yet another Junior A call-up, Ryan Kelly, backing him up.
The result wasn’t pretty. Six Nations led 6-0 after one period and stretched the lead to 8-0 in the second. Brampton did manage two goals in the period, but not before the Chiefs added another to lead 9-2 heading for home. Shane Scott opened the scoring, but that would be all Brampton could do falling 12-3 in game one.
Yes, the defending champions will look much better when Cosmo is in the net, but they have a lot of work to do if they expect to return to the MSL finals. They’ll have until Wednesday to sort out the issues and get some players back when they host the Chiefs for game two.
