Durham Tops Barrie

The Durham Turfdogs hosted the Blizzard in a Saturday afternoon contest to open the GM Centre for the 2014 season.

Durham was led my Mack O’Brien with 4 goals, Nick Diachenko with two goals and three helpers, and Scott Defrancesco with 2 goals and 2 assists.  Barrie was led by Caleb Wiles with 5 points (3+2) and Jonas Derks with six points (1+5).

The first quarter was close up until about 5 minutes left when the Blizzard took off on a five goal streak. Durham would have two goals in the first quarter, both of which came from Defrancesco. At the end of one Barrie led 6-2.

Into the second, Durham had enough of Barrie as they started what would be an 8 goal streak. Mack O’Brien would put in a hat trick within the second quarter, with two of the goals a part of Durham’s streak. Barrie trailed 11-8 at the end of the first half.

Starting off the second half early, O’Brien would go for the five hole and give a little bit more cushion onto the lead. Wiles not feeling it as he put in his third of the game to seal his hat trick, and cut the lead back down to 3. The Turfdogs ended the third quarter with a goal from Diachenako with just 37 seconds left to give themselves a nice 4 point lead heading into the final frame.

Starting off the fourth the Turfdogs would open with two goals before the Blizzard could do anything. An attempted comeback from Barrie wouldn’t prevail as they couldn’t get within less than 4.

Durham ended their home-opener on a high note with a final goal from Jordan Robertson, to top the Blizzard 18-13. Barrie now 0-2 heads home to take on the Lock Monsters for the second time this season.

Demons Come back to Top Cyclops

The Oshweken Demons edge by to take their home opener over the South Western Cyclops.

The Demons were led by Blue Hill with a nine point night from four goals and five assists, followed by Tom Mentour (5+2), Chris Attwood (4+3), and Wayne Vanevery (7) who all had seven point performances in their 21-19 win.

As for the Cyclops they were led by Ryan Campbell with three goals and a helper. Followed by Patrick McCorory with and Jimmy Purves who both put in three goals.

The SW Cyclopes would open up the scoring with back to back goals, but it wasn’t long before the Demons were on the board. At the end of one the Demons trailed 8-6, and into the second it wasn’t looking too good for the Demons.

The second quarter started with three quick goals from the visitors, as they started to pad their lead. At the end of the half the Demons were starting to get something going but still trailed 13-10.

It was until almost mid way through the third when Vanevery put in three straight, that would start the comeback for the Demons. His three goals would be the first of a four goal streak, which ended with the Demons up by 1. At the end of three it was tied at 15, after a late goal from Mike Burke to tie it back up.

Into the final 15 minutes of the game, the Demons decided it was time to run the show, but the Cyclopes not giving up the fight. Throughout the fourth it was goal for goal, until under five minutes to go when the Demons put in back-to-back goals. After gaining a two point lead, the Cyclopes would only come within one. Montour tossed in his final goal of the game with under a minute left to seal the win for the Demons.

Lock Monsters 2-0 after Opening Weekend

The Niagara Lock Monsters capped off a double header weekend with a second straight win on Sunday. After topping the Barrie Blizzard 16-8 on Saturday afternoon, they showed no signs of fatigue defeating the Durham Turfdogs 14- 4.

Andrew Potter led the Lock Monsters on offence with a 6 point performance with two goals and four assists. Meanwhile, between the pipes, Connor Danko shut out the Turfdogs throughout the entire third quarter and allowed only a single goal in the fourth sealing the Niagara victory.

The first quarter opened up with back-to-back goals from Niagara, with one from rookie Tyler Carvalho and the other from Andrew Potter. Durham’s Dylan Goddard would get one by Danko to end the first with a score of 2-1.
Into the second, the Turfdogs would put in a pair of goals, scored by Nick Diachenko and Goddard to take the lead for the first time. Niagara would answer with a goal of their own by Sean Gillies, which would end the first half all tied up at 3.

The Niagara Lock Monster’s would take the lead back just 33 seconds into the second half with a goal from Captain Brad Favero. Favero’s goal was the first of nine for Niagara in the third quarter alone. Danko had a flawless third quarter for the second straight game as Durham was unable to capitalize on anything throughout the quarter.

The Turfdogs would end their drought in the fourth with a goal from Scott Defrancesco. But, Niagara would counter with goals by Jordan Daradick and Andy Tober. Defrancesco alongside Dylan Goddard led all Turdogs with two points each in the game.

Box Score available at canadianlacrosse.com
Week 2 sees Durham host the Barrie Blizzard on Saturday, February 8 at 2 p.m. at the GM Centre. That evening, the Ohsweken Demons open the season against the SouthWest Cyclops at Iroquois Lacrosse Areana beginning at 8 p.m. On Sunday, February 9, Niagara travels to Barrie to take on the Blizzard at 2 p.m. at the Barrie Molson Centre. 

Niagara Comes Back to Win Home Opener

The Niagara Lock Monsters kicked off their season with an 16-8 win over the Barrie Blizzard in a Saturday afternoon match up at Seymour Hannah Arena.

In the first quarter, the Blizzard would take control by scoring the opening goal as Geoff McNulty found the back of the net, assisted by Caleb Wiles and Spencer Janes.  It would take Niagara almost ten minutes to get on the board as Corey Fowler took off to put one in unassisted and tie the game at 1.  Barely 20 seconds later, the Blizzard answered Fowler’s goal to start a three goal streak.  Jon Arnold of the Lock Monster’s would toss in a pair of goals to end the first with Barrie leading 4-3.

Barrie opened the scoring in the second quarter with a quick goal by Tyler Gibbons.  From there, Niagara would go on a solid goal streak that would stretch from the second quarter and into the third. The streak would include a hat trick from Andrew Potter; two of the three goals from Potter would come on penalty shots.

Throughout the third quarter, frustrations began to come out from both sides with Barrie unable to capitalize on their power play opportunities.  Niagara shut out Barrie in the third quarter and led 14-5 going into the final frame.

In the fourth, Barrie’s Tyler Gibbons found the back of the net and put an end to the streak for Niagara. Niagara’s Travis Gibbons would put in his second of the game to answer, and later added third to seal a hat trick.  In the end, three goals in the fourth quarter wasn’t enough for Barrie to come back and Niagara went on to a 16-8 victory.

Box Score available here

Niagara’s next game comes today at 2 p.m. as they take on the Durham Turfdogs at Seymour Hannah Arena.

MAC ENDS REGULAR SEASON WITH LOSS TO GUELPH

The Marauders hosted Guelph in their last regular season game for 2013 Sunday afternoon, but couldn’t keep up as they fell to a 14-8 loss.

Mark Phillips coming off of a career high game Friday night put in another five goals to tie his best Sunday afternoon, putting in his first at 2:20 into the first quarter to get McMaster on the Board with a one point edge. Guelph would answer shortly after with back-to-back goals before Ryan Adams would toss one in to end the first tied at 2.

The second would start with Phillips finding the back of the net once again, giving McMaster the lead; but there would be a case of déjà vu as Guelph put in two more. Phillips sealed his hat trick in an attempt to keep the Marauders within reach. It wouldn’t be long until Guelph’s leading scorer, Ryan Serville would put in back-to-back goals to end the first half and start a goal streak for the Gryphons.

At the end of the first half Guelph led 6-4.

Guelph’s goal streak that was started by Serville wouldn’t be broken up until 19:55 into the third quarter when Phillips would put in his fourth of the night and the lone Marauder goal of the quarter.

Going into the fourth McMaster trailed Guelph by 5.

Guelph’s Jordan Critch would start off the scoring in the fourth, but McMaster would answer four minutes later with a goal from Kyle Lindsay on the man up with his first of the quarter, followed by Phillips to cut the deficit to 4. Guelph wasn’t done as they put in three more before Lindsay’s second of the game, which would be the final goal.

After this weekend Phillips moves to 5^th in goals in the CUFLA standings with a total of 31. Phillips has a total of 32 points with 31 goals and a single helper. This season he has doubled his goals from 2012.

McMaster ends the regular season ranked fourth in the OUA west with a 5 and 7 record. The Marauders will be on the road next weekend to take on Guelph once again. Follow @McMasterLax on twitter for live game updates on the road.

MCMASTER CLINCHES PLAYOFFS WITH WIN FRIDAY NIGHT

Friday Night McMaster won their second straight at home, after topping Laurier 10-9 for the second time this season. Mark Phillips led the Marauders, putting in five goals.

Laurier’s Brandon Petter would score the first of the game at 3:45 to get Laurier on the board. McMaster would answer on the man up with a goal from Kyle Lindsay after connecting with Iszkula. Phillips would put in back to back goals in the first, but with a goal just over 18 minutes in from Laurier, they would end the first tied at 3.

McMaster wouldn’t take the lead back until 15:40 in the second quarter, but they managed to keep the lead for the duration of the game. Phillips put in the last goal of the first half and started off a 4-goal streak for the Marauders.

Keir Thornborow broke up McMaster’s 4-goal streak later in the third; as the lone goal throughout the quarter for Laurier. The Golden Hawks’ attempt to come back in the third wasn’t enough as Phillips put in his fifth of the game for Mac’s 10^th and final goal.

With the win over Laurier, the Marauders clinch their playoff spot. Their last appearance in playoffs were last year, but lost in their first game against Brock. McMaster’s last championship was in 2010 after entering playoffs with a .500 record in the regular season. The Marauders host Guelph Sunday in an afternoon match up at Alumni field for their last regular season game.

HAMILTON NATIONALS - JORDAN HALL Q&A

Jordan Hall has been playing for the Nationals for 5 years, two of which were in Toronto before moving to Hamilton. This past season he put up 12 points for Hamilton including 8 goals and 4 assists. Hall put in a game-winning goal against the Bayhawks while on the road for an over time win to continue the 5-0 start for Hamilton. Hall also plays for the Philadelphia Wings in the NLL with teammates Kevin Crowley, Brodie Merrill, and rookie Tucker Durkin. Digital Media coordinator, Becca Luden had a chance to sit down and talk to with Jordan about his lacrosse career.

Becca Luden: How did you get started in lacrosse?

Jordan Hall: I was actually a playing soccer with a bunch of buddies and they’re dad was really into it and soccers in the fall and spring and they told me I should go play lax and that was kinda it.

BL: Did you play any other sports other than soccer when you were younger?
JH: I actually quit soccer pretty young. When I was really young I played baseball and soccer and then that changed to soccer and lacrosse. And all my lacrosse buddies were playing hockey so it became lax and hockey from basically 9 or 10 years old and on.

BL: When did you stop playing Hockey?

JH: Right up until like I think 11^th or 10^th grade, up until the point I knew I had a lacrosse scholarship and then I just focused on lacrosse.

BL: What is your greatest accomplishment in your lacrosse career?

JH: Probably winning the world championships in 2006 with team Canada.

BL: Who is your Athletic motivation?

JH: I was always a bigger fan of Trevor linden cause he wasn’t always flashy but he was more of a two way guy. You know he got back checked hard and things like that so I guess you could say Lindin.

BL: What song is on your ipod that you wouldn’t want people to know about?

JH: It’s a Bruno mars song, I cant remember the name of it...hold on let me look it up… So when I go to itunes .. just an old man comment.. oh wait there it is. Library.

Bruno Mars – If I knew.

BL:  hahah, I’ll have to give it a listen… So how do you prepare for a game, do you have any weird superstitions or anything like that?

JH: No I try and stay pretty loose, I would say pre game nap is a big one. And I just started following brodie around and eating whatever he eats on the weekend.

BL: Trying to eat healthier?

JH: Yeah I literally follow him and if there’s a buffet I follow him in line and grab whatever he does and jump in the backseat and go to whole foods with him.

BL: If you went on amazing race who from the nationals would you want as your partner and why?

JH: I think I might take Thul, because he would drive me to do better because his military training and he could protect me in any situation and he’s got training for whatever they might have us do.

BL: What’s your favorite holiday?

JH: Halloween

BL: Does that count?

JH: Uh yes it does.

BL: Ahaha alright so why?

JH: I really like the costumes and you get a lot of candy.  I put more into my Halloween costumes than Christmas presents. It’s a bad thing to say but it’s probably true.

BL: I put quite a bit of thought into mine too, so it’s not that bad… What is your favorite meal?

JH: Probably, it’s a three-way tie between pizza, sushi, or a nice steak house.