On Sunday afternoon the Toronto Shooting Stars will be in Barrie to face the Blizzard in what could be the most important game of the year for the home team. The importance of this game will depend on the income of today’s matchup between the Iroquois Ironmen and the Durham TurfDogs. If the Ironmen win then the Blizzard will have no shot at making the post season, thus making tomorrow’s game a meaningless one for them. The game means nothing to Toronto as they have already secured 2nd place in the Canadian Lacrosse League standings and have earned a bye to the final four on April 20th.
Toronto has lost three of their last four games but they also haven’t played in two weeks so they’ll be well rested for tomorrow. The Shooting Stars have some big names on the roster but they haven’t had to rely solely on those players to win games this year. They have a lot of guys who can step up when needed and their scoring has been really spread out this season. Scott Gamble is the only Shooting Star who has yet to score a goal but what he lacks on offense he makes up in toughness. Gamble is leading Toronto with 61 minutes in penalties and is great at getting in the face of opponents. Although he takes a lot of penalties he also draws a lot, making him a valuable asset to this team.
Mack O’Brien leads all Toronto scorers with 40 points (26 goals, 14 assists) and has a point in every game so far this season. O’Brien has 9 points versus the Blizzard this year including a 6 point (3g 3a) night the first time these teams met back in January. Brad Levick has really stepped up his game as of late;
Toronto’s second leading scorer has 21 points (6g 15a) in his last five games.
Goaltending has been a bit of an issue for Toronto lately as the loss of Angus Dineley to the National Lacrosse League’s Philadelphia Wings has really hurt them. Gary Muzzin has been playing pretty good in his place but has failed to earn a win in his last two starts. However, with that being said, his team has given up 50 plus shots in each of those games which would make life hard for any goaltender.
The story for Toronto all season is that they need to play as a team if they want to come out on top tomorrow. Some nights when they get down by a few goals the individualism comes out; they need to remain focused in those situations and work the ball around. In Barrie takes an early lead tomorrow,
Toronto needs to slow things down and let everybody get a touch. One guy firing the ball from everywhere is not the answer when you’re playing catch up lacrosse.
Tomorrow’s game is meaningless for Toronto but depending on the outcome of today’s game between the Iroquois Ironmen and the Durham’s TurfDogs (live at 2pm on The Lacrosse Radio Network), this could be a huge game for Barrie. Game time is 2pm from the Molson Centre in Barrie Ontario.
