A strong relief effort from Cole Murray propelled the Durham Turfdogs to a come from behind 13-9 win over the Barrie Blizzard on Saturday in Canadian Lacrosse League action. Down 6-2 in the second frame, Murray replaced starter Ryan Masters and held the Blizzard to three goals down the stretch. Matt Crough’s goal at 6:14 of the third quarter proved to be the game winner as Murray played over 21 minutes of shutout lacrosse.
The Turfdogs move to 3-0 and sit in first place in the CLAX standings with six points. Barrie is in a three way tie for second place with two points.
Masters picked up the first two wins of the season for Durham, 14-13 over Niagara and 19-11 over Oshweken. The Turfdogs have three goalies on their roster including Murray and Lucas Coote, and going into the season, the number one spot was up for grabs.
“We thought maybe [Murray] was going to be one of our starting goalies, he and Masters were going to switch back and forth each game,” Crough said post-game. “Once he didn’t play that second game it was a surprise and I think that gave him a bit of a spark and he came in to fight for that starting job [today].”
Neil Roberts started the game for Barrie but was lifted in favour of Rance Vigneux after a large Durham momentum swing at the end of the third quarter. Vigneux shut out the Turfdogs in the fourth but the damage was already done.
Mark Vradenburg led the Turfdogs with a hat trick and one assist. Jesse Guerin had two goals and two assists, Cody McMahon and Crough two goals and one assist each. Single goals went to Josh Wasson, Pete Rennie, Rob Kloepfer, and Dylan Goddard.
Crough’s second goal of the game was a breathtaking effort. After receiving the ball from Thomas Hoggarth, Crough darted around the back of the net, came out front and dodged a defender before shooting as he jumped over the crease.
“I felt pretty good today. I was shaky at first, I couldn’t catch the ball, and then as the game went on things got better for me,” Crough said.
Defenseman Pete Rennie got the loudest cheer of the day as he chased a ball down to the offensive zone and body checked Roberts along the side boards. Vradenburg picked up the loose ball and put it in the empty cage for his hat trick goal at 13:05 of the third quarter.
Caleb Wiles led the Blizzard with four goals, while Mike Teeter had three goals and two assists. Also scoring was Brad Levick and Dustin Caravello.
Crough, in his first year playing CLAX, has three goals and five assists. The former New England draft pick is off to a good start and sits tied for third in team scoring. Although an offensive threat, the Durham coaches are comfortable throwing him out in any situation and thus, he has found himself on the penalty kill a few times in the young season.
“It’s not bad,” he said of the change. “It’s running up and down the floor and it’s a bit different for me. I like getting back on defense, it’s a smooth transition. I think eventually I’ll find a way to play defense and offense and contribute.”
Eight of the 19 penalties called were for illegal substitution, giving both the Turfdogs and Blizzard plenty of time to work on their special teams.
“I’m just someone to rag the ball,” Crough said of his time on the PK. “Someone to hold the ball in their stick and maybe sneak out a shot late.”
With such a short season, teams don’t have much practice time so a lot of their strategies are figured out in game situations. At 3-0, the Turfdogs have figured things out early.
Barrie’s next game is Sunday at home to the Oshweken Demons. Durham is not in action again until Friday when they visit the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena to face the Demons.
