On night one of the OLA Junior A playoffs, there were no surprises. With a win on the final night of the season, the Six Nations Arrows grabbed top spot away from the Whitby Warriors. Everyone else remained where there were from our *Junior A playoff preview*# earlier this weekend. The win wasn’t surprising as it came against St Catharines, but the fact they were able to leapfrog Whitby is. The Warriors made it clear early on they would be the team to beat when they host the Minto Cup looking to repeat. They started strong, and kept the pedal down all season. Credit to Six Nations who not only kept up with Whitby, but tied them to win top spot on tiebreakers.
That being said, here is how the playoff bound teams match up, and how the first night of the post-season played out.
1. Six Nations Arrows vs 8. St Catharines Athletics
The OLA Junior A ranks have seen some lopsided games this year, but none as ridiculous as the first game of this playoff round. While live online stats were stuck with a minute and fifty seconds to play, with the score 18-1 for the Arrows it’s safe to say they walked away with the victory. Even Vegas wouldn’t have been wild enough to put odds on the Athletics, a team which dropped thirteen of their final fourteen games and traded away all their weapons two weeks before the end of the year. The series is a best of five, but it won’t take more than three.
2. Whitby Warriors vs 7. Brampton Excelsiors
You’ve got to hand it to Brampton. For a team that didn’t look overly strong in the regular season, they limited Whitby to not only just thirty-seven shots, but eight goals. Yes, it was enough for the Warriors to take the victory, but this has to be a victory as well for the Excelsiors. The difference in the game was a four goal run spanning the second and third periods. This was a game with a bit of everything, including a fight not two minutes in. Brampton likely won’t win the series, but they showed Monday night they’re going to give Whitby a lot to think about.
3. Orangeville Northmen vs 6. Burlington Chiefs
Orangeville is historically a great team and the 2012 version is no different. They make defences move a lot, and they put an astounding number of shots on net. Take Monday night for example when they outshot the Chiefs 63-37, almost double. They more than tripled up the Chiefs on the scoreboard winning 14-3. Jordan Critch started the game scoring two goals in just over the first minute of the game. Brandon Benn followed up with two of his own to put Orangeville up 4-0 after one. After a four goal run in the first five minutes of the third put the Northmen ahead 13-1, a scrum broke out consisting of most players on the floor. The melee resulted in a combined fifty-four minutes in penalties. There would be two more sets of fights as the game wound down but it was Orangeville who came out on top 14-3. Burlington won’t have the horsepower to stick with Orangeville on the scoreboard, but they’ve proven their toughness won’t be questioned. The Northmen need to watch their discipline and not incur any suspensions that will hinder them in their inevitable second round series.
4. Peterborough Lakers vs 5. Kitchener/Waterloo Braves
On Saturday we suggested this could be the series to watch. In the first period it looked like this would be yet another blowout game. Kitchener opened the scoring but then Peterborough erupted for six straight led by a Josh Currier hat trick and a pair from Cam Milligan. The Lakers led 6-2 after one, and three goals a piece in the second retained their four goal cushion. A slew of penalties, seventeen in total, all minors, led to eleven goals in the third, just five even strength. Kitchener scored one extra but after the breakaway first, it was not enough. Peterborough took game one 14-11. Â Despite being the lower seed, Kitchener scored the highest goal output of any low seed on opening night. They also tied for the lowest margin of defeat (three goals, tied with Brampton). This series was expected to be tight, and game one did not disappoint. Peterborough will likely hang on, but Kitchener will give them all they can handle in doing so.
Be sure to check in with InLacrosseWeTrust throughout the Junior A playoffs as we follow the teams all the way to the Minto Cup.
