(1) Six Nations Arrows (5-1)
Last Week: 12-7 W vs Barrie, 10-5 W vs Toronto, 12-6 W vs Toronto
The defending champs move into the top spot in the rankings this week as they picked up three straight victories, in fairly dominating fashion. The Arrows opened the week up with a 12-7 win over the Barrie Lakeshores at home, as Austin Staats and Joe Maracle both had huge games offensively, while Doug Jamieson was a rock in goal. Following the victory over Barrie the Arrows traveled to Toronto for a match up with the Beaches, where they picked up a 10-5 win. In that victory, Joe Maracle and Jordan Durston led the way offensively, while Doug Jamieson added to his win total. In the second half of their home and home with the Beaches, the Arrows feel behind in the first frame, however following a goalie change that saw Doug Jamieson replace Keaton Dale, the Arrows got back to their usual selves, coming from behind to double up the Beach 12-6. The Arrows have been getting off to some what slow starts as of late, but have kicked in into gear come the second frame, and while that is acceptable now, when the games get tighter, the Arrows won’t be able to spot teams leads. Austin Staats leads the way offensively through the first six games of the season with 27 points in six games, while Joe Maracle isn’t far behind with 25 in 6 games. Josh Johnson was absent in two of the three games this past week, and while his offense was exactly missed, seeing as the Arrows went 3-0, Six Nations is a much deeper and more dominate team offensively, when he is in the line up. Doug Jamieson continues his superb play in goal, as he sits with a 5-1 record and a sparkling 5.52 goals against average.
(2) Orangeville Northmen (5-1-1)
Last Week: 11-8 W vs St. Catharines, 11-8 W vs St. Catharines
The Northmen had just two games this past week, a home and home series with the St. Catharines Athletics. The Northmen would claim victories in both match ups by identical 11 to 8 scores. Lucas Ducharme had a big game on Wednesday night in Orangeville’s first victory of the week, as he picked up seven points on three goals and four assists, while Matt Vangalen had a big game in the second half of the home and home, as he picked up six points on three goals and three assists. The Northmen have been getting solid offensive contributions from six different runners, as Ian Mackay, Davis Neal, Owen MacDonald, Matt Vangalen, Lucas Ducharme and Brandon Slade are all averaging over two points per game, with Neal averaging over three points per game and Mackay four points per game. The defense and goaltending however have been the difference on many nights, as the Northmen have only once allowed double digits in offensive this season, and that came in their one goal loss to the Burlington Chiefs. Nolan Clayton has excelled in the Orangeville goal, showing know sign of needing a transition period after jumping up to Junior A from the Junior B ranks. Despite the solid 5-1-1 record, the Northmen seem to get better with every game they play, which is a scary thought for the rest of the OLA. Ian Mackay lead the club offensively with 31 points, while Davis Neal sits second with 24. Nolan Clayton has started every game for the Northmen this season, going 5-1-1, with a 6.81 goals against average.
(3) Burlington Chiefs (4-3)
Last Week: 10-9 W over Whitby, 7-6 L to Mimico
What an interesting week for the Burlington Chiefs. They kicked it off with their fourth straight win, over yet another Junior Lacrosse power house, none the less, defeating the Whitby Warriors 10-9. But followed that impressive win, with a complete let down, in an uninspired effort against the Mimico Mountaineers where they took a 7-6 loss. Inconsistencies are killing the Chiefs early on this season, as they should be 7-0 at this point. Two of Burlington’s three losses have come against the two worst teams in the league right now, while one has come against another inconsistent team, the Peterborough Lakers. The Chiefs defense has been excellent this year, after two early season losses. Since that time they’ve yet to allow double digits, other then in their 11-10 win over Orangeville. Doug Buchan continues to be a big reason why the Chiefs are having success, as he’s making the big saves when it counts. With a 4-3 record and a 8.72 goals against average, his numbers don’t lead in any goaltending category, but he may be the goaltender with the most value to his team. Andrew Kew has thrown the Burlington offense on his back, racking up 19 goals and 17 assists for 36 points in just 7 games, while the Chiefs next leading scorer has 19 points in 5 games. The addition of Justin Huggins from the Toronto Beaches will add to the Chiefs offensive depth, an area that they definitely needed to upgrade on if they want to contend when we get into the dog days of summer. A match up this week with Orangeville on Friday night should be an excellent one, and one where we can see if the Burlington Chiefs are for real.
(4) Brampton Excelsiors (3-2)
Last Week: 14-11 W over Peterborough, 7-6 L to Barrie
Last week the Brampton Excelsiors where the latest powerhouse to get dropped by an underdog, as Barrie defended their home floor picking up a 7-6 victory. Brampton is having consistency issues early on, as they try and work out some minor kinks. Losing such a large core of their defense from last season has had its effect on the team, as the new bodies get adjusted to the team and system. With the offense the Excelsiors are able to produce, and the goaltending Quintan Martin is able to provide, once the defense comes together, an puts consistent efforts forward the Excelsiors could be the toughest team to beat in the league. In saying that, this week it was the offense that let them down, scoring six goals just isn’t going to cut it. Jeff Teat lead the Excelsiors in the win over Peterborough, as he added to his team leading totals, picking up three goals and five assists, for eight points in the win. Teat again would put the team on his back offensively in the 7-6 loss to Barrie, as his goal and three assists led the team in scoring. Teat’s 27 points in five games lead the Excelsiors in season scoring, while Zach Herreweyers 20 points in five games isn’t far behind. Quintan Martin has started all five games for the Excelsiors this season, going 3-2 with a 8.53 goals against average. The Excelsiors need to take advantage of the position their in this season, as they have every shot at capturing the league title in 2015, but if consistency issues continue to plague them, a promising season can go down the drain rather quickly.
(5) Peterborough Lakers (5-4)
Last Week: 14-11 L to Brampton, 14-8 W over Whitby
The back and forth season continues to play out for the Peterborough Lakers, who split a pair of important games against the Brampton Excelsiors and Whitby Warriors this past week. Peterborough would take a 14-11 loss at the hands of the Brampton Excelsiors, before returning home to defeat the Whitby Warriors 14-8. Peterborough is a tough team to analyze as they come out with strong efforts on some nights, backed with strong goaltending and offensive depth, and then they’ll come out flat where there goaltending, defense and offense struggles. If Peterborough can put things together at the right time and go on an extended run, they could position themselves favorably for the playoff run. Cam Milligan lead the Lakers in the 14-11 loss with a seven point performance on three goals and four assists. Meanwhile Kyle Killen would lead the team in the win over Whitby with a goal and five helpers. While Cam Milligan leads the Lakers with 39 points in 9 games, the depth contributions from guys like Killen, Michel and Currier, are really making the Lakers a load to handle on offense. Once Holden Cattoni gets going in Peterborough this team is going to be feared offensively. If Brett Lafonte can hold the fort, the Lakers may be able to play themselves in the OLA Junior A final this season. Lafonte currently has encouraging numbers as he sits with a 5-3 record and a 8.95 goals against average.
(6) Whitby Warriors (4-3-2)
Last Week: 8-7 W over K-W, 10-9 L to Burlington, 14-8 L to Peterborough, 9-9 T vs Whitby
The Whitby Warriors find themselves mired in a three game winless streak, after narrowly edging out the last place K-W Braves 8-7 in their last win. The Warriors simply haven’t been playing quality lacrosse lately, despite their immense skill. Goaltending didn’t seem to be an issue early on, but now its looking like it is, as the Warriors are struggling to keep teams off the score sheet. I hesitate to say its the team defense, as the Warriors return much of a very good defense core from last season, that is coached extremely well. An we all know the Warriors offense is one to be feared as Austin Shanks, Ryan Keenan, Connor Kearnan, Luke Keenan and Tristan Rai have all surpassed the 20 point plateau just nine games in the season, with Austin Shanks and Ryan Keenan sitting 1/2 in league scoring with 49 and 43 points respectively. As we sit here today, it looks as though Mike DeGirolamo is the Warriors number one goaltender, he currently has a 3-2-2 record, with a 8.59 goals against average, while “back up” Josh Delves is 1-1 with a 8.16 goals against average. The Warriors need to figure things out and figure things out fast as the midway point of the season is right around the corner, and if the Warriors continue to slide down the standings, they may find themselves with a very unfavorable first round playoff match up.
(7) Barrie Lakeshores (3-4)
Last Week: 12-7 L to Six Nations, 13-9 W over K-W, 7-6 W over Brampton
In all fairness to the Barrie Lakeshores, they didn’t have the most favorable schedule to open the season, taking losses at the hands of Orangeville, Whitby and Brampton. However since then they’ve won two of three of their last four games, with their lone loss coming against the power house Six Nations Arrows. Barrie has won games with timely goal scoring, a tightened defense, and solid goaltending, the three key ingredients in any winning lacrosse club. Austin Murphy leads the club in scoring with 20 points in six games, while Spencer continues to be strong for Barrie, with 18 points in 7 games. Barrie got strong efforts from Steph Charbonneau and Nick Chaykowsky this past week, which has helped with their offensive depth. However if the Lakeshores want to continue to pick up the wins, there going to need the four aforementioned offensive threats to continue to produce, if not the losses may start to mount again. Zach Rex has started all seven games for the Lakeshores this season, going 3-4 with a 9.03 goals against average. He’s been a pleasant surprise for Barrie, and if he continues to keep the GAA around the 9.00 mark, the Lakeshores should have a chance to win on every give night.
(8) St. Catharines Athletics (2-4)
Last Week: 11-8 L to Orangeville, 11-8 L to Orangeville
With just two games this past week, the Athletics found themselves with the difficult task of a home and home series with the very tough Orangeville Northmen. To the Athletics credit they where in both games, having a chance to win right down to the wire, however at the end of the day they did drop both games by 11-8 scores. Eric Fannell continued to lead the team offensively, as he racked up 7 goals and 2 assists over the two game series. Fannell now has an impressive 30 points in just six games, and looks well on his way to contending for the league scoring title in 2015. Contributions from Joe French, Jeff Witting and Cody ward will be needed on a continuous bases as the Athletics simply cannot rely on Fannell to produce all the offense. Jake Frost has been good in goal for the Athletics, going 2-4 in his six starts, with a 8.50 goals against average. The uncertainty surrounding the Athletics goaltending situation was one of concern going into the season, Frost seems to have a good handle on that position at this point and moving forward.
(9) Toronto Beaches (2-4-1)
Last Week: 10-5 L to Six Nations, 12-6 L to Six Nations, 9-9 T vs Whitby
The Beaches went 0-2-1 this week, but in fairness to the Beach Boys a home and home with the Arrows followed by a road game against the Whitby Warriors isn’t exactly and ideal schedule. But still the Beaches made the best of the situation, giving the Arrows all they could handle, and pulling out a tie against the deep and skilled Warriors. The Beaches have beat teams they should beat, and pulled out a tie against a good Warriors squad, however the loss to Barrie hurts, as Barrie is a team they need to beat to get into the playoffs this season. The Beaches seem to play to the level of their opponent, rather then putting together their very best on a nightly bases. With a young team that’s fairly common, however the Beaches really need to pull together in close games against teams like K-W, Barrie, St. Catharines, Mimico and even a team like Peterborough who the Beaches can contend with. As wins over these teams will all but ensure Toronto of their first playoff berth in years. John St. John leads the Beaches with 26 points in seven games this season, with Aaron Forster closely behind him, producing 17 points in seven games. Michael Lalani who is the elder of the two Beaches goaltender, looks to have the edge on the starters job and has gone 1-3, with a 8.75 goals against average. Match ups with St. Catharines and Burlington this week could mean a big vault up the standings and power rankings, if the Beaches can pull out a win.
(10) Mimico Mountaineers (2-5)
Last Week: 7-5 L to K-W, 7-6 W over Burlington
Mimico has two wins, and they’ve come over two quality opponents in the Whitby Warriors and Burlington Chiefs. A narrow 7-6 win over Burlington allowed Mimico to pull even in the standings with K-W and St. Catharines, as three teams now all have two wins apiece. Mimico also played the Braves to a narrow 7-5 loss this week, in a game they really should have probably won. Games like that are going to cost Mimico the playoffs this season, as they’ll be in tough to continue to pull upsets as teams stock up their rosters heading into the playoffs. Riley Hutchcraft as been an excellent surprise in goal, as he’s gone 1-2 with a 9.05 goals against average in this three starts. Hutchcraft has allowed the Mountaineers to be in every game and stay competitive. If Mimico stays close in games, they get stronger on the floor, and boast the ability to squeak out upsets. They’ll be in tough to pull off upsets this week however, as they have a home an home with the Six Nations Arrows on the schedule. Jonathon Donville has been even better then expected, leading the team in scoring with 17 points in seven games. Derek Downs and Tanner Thompson have provided depth scoring, while Matthew Lee’s 14 points in seven games have also been a pleasant surprise.
(11) K-W Braves (2-6)
Last Week: 8-7 L to Whitby, 7-5 W over Mimico, 13-9 L to Barrie
Well the Braves picked up a crucial second win this past week, defeating the Mimico Mountaineers 7-5, in a game they really where expected to win, especially with the addition of Ryan Callaghan who led the Mississauga Tomahawks in scoring last season. The Braves where expected to be in contention with the big boys this season, however it just hasn’t panned out that way. Kevin Orleman has been great in goal despite his record of 2-6 with a 9.50 goals against average. Shawn Lantz has provided offense at a potent pace since coming up from Junior B, while Chris Cloutier has excelled in his three games back with 13 points in three games. Offensively they should be running up the score on teams with offensive threats like Cloutier, Lantz, Prince, Smith and Callaghan, however things just aren’t clicking right now and there season is really in jeopardy, especially after another loss to a team they should be beating in Barrie. With Peterborough and Brampton twice this week, K-W needs to pull an upset in one of these games to stay in contention.
