The sixth seeded Iroquois Ironmen will continue their Cinderella story on Saturday when they face the number one ranked Niagara Lock Monsters in the Canadian Lacrosse League’s semi finals. The Ironmen have been on a tear as of late winning their last three games including a 15-14 thriller versus the Ohsweken Demons last Sunday. Chris Attwood scored as the final buzzer sounded to send him his team to this weekend’s Final Four.
Although they’re the sixth seed, Iroquois will have the home advantage as the Final Four tournament will be held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). The last time these teams met at ILA was in early March in a game that saw the Lock Monsters chew up the Ironmen and spit them out. Niagara owned Iroquois from start to finish as they took that game by a score of 18-10. Things have changed since then though; although they have the same roster, the Ironmen are a much stronger team.
Chris Attwood has led the way for Iroquois during their three game win streak and has scored 7 goals and added 12 assists during that stretch. The 2nd team all-star had a moderate start to the season but is now showing why he’s the CLax all-time leading scorer with 148 points (70 goals and 78 assists).
On Saturday Attwood will have to face the hottest goalie in the league though in first team all-star Connor Danko. Niagara’s rookie netminder has been a brick wall all season winning seven of his nine starts including six in a row to begin his pro career. Danko’s seven wins ties the CLax record that was set last season by Ohsweken‘s Jeff Powless, a man who is 11 years his senior.
Besides solid goaltending Niagara also boasts the top scorer from the regular season Corey Fowler. He finished the year with 32 goals and 48 assists which was good enough for a CLax single season record. Fowler’s stellar performance this year earned him a spot on the all-rookie team as well as second team all-star honors. Fowler celebrates his 24th birthday on April 18th and the only present he wants this year is the Creator’s Cup.
These two teams are very evenly matched and we should be treated to some great lacrosse action. Saturday’s semi final is a 1pm start and can be heard on tape delay starting at 2:30pm on The Lacrosse Radio Network. The radio link can be found at the top of the In Lacrosse We Trust homepage.
The winner of this game will meet either the Durham TurfDogs or the Toronto Shooting Stars in the Creator’s Cup final on Sunday at 2pm; that game will air live on The Lacrosse Radio Network. Durham and Toronto will face off Saturday at 4pm in a game that can also be heard live on LRN.
