1 Six Nations Rebels 8 Niagara Thunderhawks
Arguably the biggest favorite to win the Founders Cup this year is the host team and defending champions Six Nations Rebels. The Rebels lead 2-0 in the series and can thank their scoring for the wins. 13 different players have scored goals in the two games, including 6 multi-goal scorers.
Leading the Rebels throughout the first two wins is Jacob Bomberry with 4 goals and 5 assists for 10 points in 2 games. The small but fierce sniper is closing in on his 100th career playoff point as he sits with 93 in 38 games thus far. Look for Joe Haodias Maracle to set up Bomberry and rookie Zed Williams throughout this playoffs. Williams, has already etched his name in New York High School Lacrosse history as the All-Time Leading Scorer with the Silver Creek HS Black Knights. Williams will continue to make a name for himself in Ontario lacrosse history by helping the Rebels in their 2012 Founders Cup run.
Niagara’s offense will have to step up and try to match the powerful offense of the Rebels in Game 3 if they want to keep this series alive.
Games Remaining: 3. NIA@SXN Jun 29, 8:00pm
*4. SXN@NIA Jul 01, 4:00pm
*5. NIA@SXN Jul 02, 8:00pm
Players to Watch: SXN- Jacob Bomberry 2GP, 4G,6A,10P
2 London Blue Devils 7 Elora Mohawks
The Blue Devils are coming off the best regular season in their 10 year history with an impressive 2nd place finish in the West. Although London registered 14 wins this season, unlike most top teams in the league, they do not have a star player. The Blue Devils have a deep offense and a strong tight defense lead by goaltender Tyler Glebe. Glebe played all 20 games this regular season. Does Glebe have enough gas ? We will have to find out.
Already 2 games into the series, London is up 2-0 but both games have been very close. In game 1, it was a close as it gets as the Blue Devils topped the Mohawks 12-11 in double overtime. Game two both teams stayed under double digits for defensive battle. The Blue Devils topped the Mohawks 9-7 and now sit 2-0 in the series.
Mohawks offense is predicated through veteran Jake Weidner who finished 2nd in scoring in the OJBLL with 122 points in 20 games. The Blue Devils have keyed in on Weidner but have yet to keep him silent as he has tallied 9 points in two games. Although Weidner has done played well this series, with the hole Elora finds themselves right now, he needs to step up. If Elora is going to have a chance in this series and Weidner continues at this solid rate with no help out the front door, the season may end in the near future for the Mohawks.
The Blue Devils may not have a superstar, but they do have solid depth at both ends of the floor and topped off with great goaltending. Those are key ingredients to a recipe of a playoff run.
Games Remaining
3. ELO@LON Jun 29, 8:00pm
*4. LON@ELO Jul 01, 4:00pm
*5. ELO@LON Jul 02, 8:00pm
Players to watch: ELO Jake Weidner 2G,7A,9PTS
LON Tyler Glebe .843 SV%
3 Guelph Regals 6 Orangeville Northmen
Division rivals Guelph Regals take on the Orangeville Northmen in what was expected to be a close series but in the first two games it was not the case.
The Northmen came out hot picking up wins in the first two games by more than 6 goals. In game 1, Orangeville defeated the Regals 11-5 in Guelph. Game 2 was even more lopsided as the Northmen defeated the Regals 12-4 in the Bunny Barn. Â Orangeville has a deep offensive threat with Brandon Slade and Brenden Miller each posting 70 plus points in the regular season. Slade and Miller are supported by Travis Szabolcs and Brandon Armstrong who both registered 55 plus points. The offense is supported by an aggressive defense and backstopped by Whitby native Jason Armstrong who has posted a solid last junior season and has continued into playoffs.
Finally, in game 3 we saw the close matchup that was expected. The game was tied at 8 going into the 3rd period, but Guelph managed to outscore Orangeville 4-2 to make the final score 10-8 in favor of the Regals.
The Regals offense came to life last night potting one more goal in game 3 than they registered in the first two contests. The depth in scoring for Orangeville has continued as 9 players are averaging more than 5 points a game. Of those 9 players 6 of them are transition players.
Hopefully the remainder of the series will be entertaining lacrosse like game 3 last night in Guelph. Â Games Remaining:
4. GUE@ORA Jun 30, 7:00pm
*5. ORA@GUE Jul 02, 8:00pm
Players to watch: GUE: Â Jordan Godin 2G,5A,7P
ORA: Brandon Armstrong 6G,3A,9P
4 St.Catharines Spartan 5 Wallaceburg Red Devils
Arguably the most even matchup in all of the OJBLL first round is between the 4-5 seeds Spartan and Red Devils. In the first game of the season for both teams, St.Catharines grabbed a 12-11victory over Wallaceburg.
In game 1, the close contest continued as the Spartan were able to come out with another 1 goal victory to nab a 1-0 lead in the series. Rob Pollock shined in game 1 with an impressive 6 point game including 5 helpers. The veteran Pollack hit the single season century mark in points for the first time in his 5 years with the Red Devils.
In game 2, Wallaceburg bounced back big time with a 17-7 win over St.Catharines. It was a close game going into the third period with the Spartan up 7-6 but Wallaceburg blew the doors off in the 3rd scoring 11 goals to close out the win. Newly acquired veteran goaltender Brenner Jacobs shut the door on the Spartan only allowing 7 goals including a 3rd period shutout. Jacobs needs to continue solid play in between the pipes
to help his team get past this tough 1st round matchup.
If St.Kitts want to stay alive, the offense of Spartan lead by Mark Vradenburg needs to step up big time and start putting the bread in the basket.
Games Remaining:
3. WAL@SPA Jun 30, 4:00pm
4. SPA@WAL Jul 01, 4:00pm
*5. WAL@SPA Jul 03, 8:00pm
Players to Watch: WAL Rob Pollock 3G,7A,10P
SPA Mark Vradenburg 2G,0A,2PTS
