For the second year in a row the Iroquois Ironmen will play in the Canadian Lacrosse League’s Final Four which will be held Saturday on their home turf at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). The Ironmen made it through to the quarter final round in dramatic fashion with a 15-14 victory over the defending champion Ohsweken Demons in a rematch of last year’s Creator’s Cup finals.
Chris Attwood, last year’s league leading point getter, scored a buzzer beater in the fourth quarter to give Iroquois the one goal victory over his former team. The Ironmen will now play the Niagara Lock Monsters in the semi final game which will take place April 20th at 1pm. Iroquois barely squeaked their way into the post season but are now the heavy favorites to hoist the Cup.
The Ironmen controlled the game early as they came out of the gate flying, leading the Demons 6-1 after the first quarter. Ohsweken turned it on in the second frame though as they outscored Iroquois 7-1 and it was 8-7 Demons at the break. Dwayne Porter led the Ironmen in the first half with 3 goals while Chris Attwood chipped in with 2 goals and 2 assists. Jesse Johnson’s 2 goals made him the Demons high scorer of the half followed by Tom Montour who had 1 goals and 2 assists.
The second half followed a similar pattern with the Ironmen winning the third quarter 5-2, making it 12-10 heading in the final frame. The Demons outscored the Ironmen 4-3 in the fourth but it obviously wasn’t enough to get them the victory. Chris Attwood had a game high 9 points (3 goals 6 assists) and was named first star. He is now the Canadian Lacrosse League’s all-time leading scorer and has really stepped up his play in the last few weeks. Jake Lazore was solid once again as he stopped 40 saves for the Ironmen including two huge stops in the dying minutes.
The Final Four double header is this Saturday with the first game featuring the sixth seeded Ironmen versus the number one ranked Niagara Lock Monsters. By finishing the regular season in first place, the Lock Monsters earned a bye into the Final Four. However, they have not played in two weeks which means they will either be well rested or a bit rusty but we’ll have to wait and see.
The other semi final game will start at 4pm as the fifth seeded Durham TurfDogs take on the second ranked Toronto Shooting Stars who also earned a bye into the Final Four. The winners of these semi final games will faceoff the following day at 2pm in the Creator’s Cup Finals which will also be played at the (ILA).
You can listen to Saturday’s 4pm semi final game as well as Sunday’s Creator’s Cup Final; live on The Lacrosse Radio Network. The 1pm semi game will be broadcast on tape delay and will be available to listeners early Saturday evening. To listen to the games simply click on the radio link which can be found at the top of the In Lacrosse We Trust homepage.
