Lots of exciting lacrosse action at the Kinsmen barn last night. Both games with fast, back and forth action, lots of lead changes…fun to watch. Looks like the Fergus tournament upped the game levels for all of the Sr. Werewolves and Jr. Northmen that participated and revving their games made everyone else pick it up a notch as well.

In the first game Teams Bill and Blair exchanged goals with Team Blair exiting the 1st period ahead by 1, leading 4-3. In the 2nd it was all Team Bill, scoring 4 while only allowing 1, to close the period ahead 7-5. In the 3rd Team Bill scored a couple more to extend their lead to 9 but then Team Blair started to claw back. One goal, then another, then another until they were able to tie it at 9 late in the game. The last minute was all Team Blair, lots of chances but they couldn’t get that last goal to complete the comeback – the game ended tied, Team Blair 9 – Team Bill 9. Big Matt was the main goalie tormentor in this game – multiple goals and even more chances.

In the 2nd game Team Russ got off to an early lead but was unable to keep Team Juniors from scoring to keep it close. First period ended with Team Russ in the lead 4-3. In the 2nd Team Juniors maintained their consistency, scoring 3 more and holding Team Russ to only 1. Bit of a scare in the 2nd, the JKOW slipped going for a loose ball near the boards and went down hard, bouncing his head on the concrete. Luckily the concrete wasn’t damaged and the game continued after scraping Jason off the concrete and on to the bench. In the 3rd, Team Juniors were nothing if not consistent scoring another 3 goals  and again holding Team Russ to a single tally – final score Team Juniors 9 – Team Russ 6.

Last night’s games completed round 4 of the round-robin. With only 3 games to go it looks like the playoff pairings are pretty well set. Barring a total collapse by either Team Russ or Team Juniors coupled with a Team Bill 3 game winning streak, the playoffs will see Team Blair vs Team Bill and Team Juniors vs Team Russ. These matches should be both interesting and competitive – no team has an easy route to the Championship game – anything can (and likely will) happen. With playoff spots and pairing pretty well set, the last 3 weeks of the regular season should see mainly tweaking of line combinations and special team practice (well, at least special needs practice!). Expect to see players in their contract years padding their stats to help their negotiating stance to get those upcoming multi year, multi dollar, guaranteed contracts. Hopefully the defensive stalwarts will also be playing for their stats so as not to leave the goalies (too) unprotected!

Next week is Week #13 Wednesday July 29, 2015 Kinsmen Arena:

Team Blair  vs.  Team Juniors     8:00pm – 9:00pm.

Team Bill  vs.  Team Russ     9:00pm  – 10:00pm.

See you then.

G2