Game Reviews 
Game #5 ------- May 21/98ST. CATHARINES SURFS OVER THE BEACH ----------------------------------- Lacrosse fans, another sleeper in St. Catharines tonight, as the A's eeked out a 14-7 victory over Toronto. The scoring for St. Catharines was fairly spread out with special kudos going to Chris Mackie with 1 goal and 6 assists. St. Catharines forgot to show up for the first 2 periods and then kicked it into second gear for the 3rd. This writer (and score-keeper) however, was impressed with the tenacity of a much more inferior Toronto team. Toronto played with a ton of heart. Beaches is a team that is struggling on the floor and in the boardroom as these kids car-pooled into St. Catharines tonight. The Toronto players showed a ton of class encouraging each other at every opportunity. The game was a rather slow affair with the score being close for the first 2 periods. St. Catharines has yet to show its real speed and scoring prowess. Coach, Buff McCready had a post-game meeting with the players and told them to get a good night sleep tonight, because they will be very sore after tomorrow night's practice. The Toronto goalie simply played outstanding, and in this writer's opinion is the best goalie in Junior lacrosse; stoning a number of St. Catharines' breakaways. The highlight of this writer's evening was at the end of the game when I met the roving lacrosse reporter, Ben Knight. It's a good thing Ben had a long ride home, or we'd still be tipping the "frosties" while discussing lacrosse. Until the next game, The Greek.
May 21/98Disinterested A's Win Anyway ---------------------------- By Ben Knight, Radio Free Cabbagetown -- ON TOUR!!! Doug Lawrence fired a hat trick and Chris Mackie chipped in with a goal and six assists as the St. Catharines Athletics cleared the Toronto Beaches 14-7 in a dour, workmanlike outing at the Burgoyne. The Beaches actually started well, scoring the first two goals and keeping the A's off the board for eleven minutes. St. Kitts led 3-2 after one, and simply couldn't get their game in gear. Toronto hung in, trailing 7-5 after two. But the Athletics seemed to get actually kind of interested in maybe playing lacrosse a little in the third (sort of), thoroughly demolishing a Toronto defence that hadn't looked bad through the first forty minutes. St. Catharines' 14th was the goal of the night. The A's were two men short when netminder Corey Quinn charged far out of his crease, went airborne to snag a loose ball and flipped it upfloor to Jeremy Hamm. Hamm was hammered to his knees by two Beaches defenders, but scored anyway when neither of them bothered to finish the check. 'Nuff said. Two questions: 1) How good is St. Catharines? Well, I've seen them twice now, and all this team speed we keep hearing about is nowhere to be seen. The Athletics seem content to play standard, half-court lacrosse. While top teams like Whitby and the Arrows press at every opportunity, seizing every inch of floor their opponents leave open, the A's repeatedly turn down gold-plated fast-break chances, preferring to go five-on-five like that's a good idea or something. Admittedly, they were flat tonight, and I'm sure they are capable of playing better, but I don't see a dominant, Godzilla-like lacrosse monster rising out of the Port Dalhousie shallows this year. 2) How bad is Toronto? Probably not as bad as we think. They haven't played together long, and word in the stands is they haven't even been able to practice much. But the basics of good defence -- close marking, sticks up, lots of cross checking -- were all there for two periods tonight. Give coach Doug Colby time to build on that, and the playoffs are not out of the question. Their biggest obstacle to getting there is probably Orillia, who just happen to be their opponent for the big home opener Monday night at Ted Reeve. We'll know a lot more when that one's in the books. Fun fact: The Beaches will, at least, lead the league in guys named Ryan. They have five. My tour continues tomorrow night in Orillia, with the Peterborough Javelins in town and the #7 place in the Radio Free Cabbagetown Lacrosse Poll up for grabs. Should be good. Come on up!
May 13/98Game #4 ------- Whitby at St. Catharines ------------------------ The Whitby Warriors came steam rolling into St. Catharines and took advantage of a laxidazical St. Catharines team, by beating them 10-5. Whitby came out fast and hard scoring their first goal 10 seconds into the game. Whitby with all their top guns in the line-up, and an overly intense Jim Bishop pretty well coasted from there. St. Catharines without question played their worst game of the season. St. Catharines struggled at both ends of the floor, especially in the offensive zone, where time and time again oppurtunities were simply not capitalized upon. St. Catharines no-doubt is a much better team than they showed last nite. The whole team just seemed to play one full step off. Whitby with their precision passing and play-making were in control from the opening draw. The game was a rather tame affair with Whitby collecting 20 min in penalties and St. Catharines 12. St. Catharines power play was ineffective and their man down even worse. Whitby didn't fair much better on their special teams either. All in all the game was a sleeper with either team really impressing this writer. The A's definitely have their work cut out for them if they expect to get to the big show as does Whitby. Next game for the A's is next Wednesday against Toronto in St. Catharines at 8:00pm.
May 10/98Game #3 ------- Pacers Fall to St. Kitts ------------------------ The Sarnia Cha Co Pacers dropped their fourth straight game and have yet to win a game in Ontario Lacrosse Association Junior A play, following a 19-6 loss to St. Catharines, Sunday. The Pacers held their own for half of the game against a tough team. When Tom Quinn scored at the 12:39 mark of the middle period, the score was tied 5-5. But less than one minute later, Todd Luey scored for the visitors and they would never be headed again, scoring three more before Sarnia countered with one, then scoring 10 consecutive goals to finish the game. Sarnia fell behind early, giving up the first two goals of the game before Kirk Cope got the home team on the board. The Pacers were trailing 4-2 when Jamie Arnold exploded for two shorthanded goals just 11 seconds apart. Both goals were scored on breakaways and the second looked like an instant replay of the first. After that the highlights were few and far between for the Pacers. Sarnia was playing without several of their top players including Kevin Fines who has an ankle injury and Joel Cocarell, who is still at university, but is expected back next week. Paul Cocarell, the club's general manager, says his son will be bringing a teammate from university with him, 21-year-old Kevin Wells.
May 7/98Game #2 ------- Six Nations edge St.Kitts ------------------------- Courtesy of Ben Knight, Olde Cabbagetown In a wild, two-and-a-half-hour contest that was both bad-tempered and brilliant, the Six Nations Arrows opened on the road with a narrow 15-14 win over the St. Catharines Athletics last night at the Burgoyne. The Arrows opened fast, uncorking Delby Powless and Kim Squire's lighting cross-crease passing act to score first mere seconds into the game. They quickly built a 5-1 lead, as the ball spent 16 minutes of the first period in the Athletics' end of the floor. But the A's struck back twice late, and escaped to the dressing room down only 5-3. But the situation reversed in the second period. A steady stream of Arrows to the penalty box allowed St. Catharines to finally establish a half-court offense, and they roared off to a 10-8 lead. The first really nasty moment came with about six minutes left in the period. Kim Squire is a dazzling talent, but his temper got the better of him, and he gave one of the Athletics a vicious two-handed slash across the shins, earning a five-minute major. That would have been bad enough, but he got into a shouting match with the fans at the close of the period, and fighting nearly broke out in the stands. It was uncomfortable, uncalled for, and too much like the ugliness that broke out in game 3 of last year's Ontario final in Whitby for my liking. For much of the third period, the lacrosse was electrifying. Both teams have dazzling passing skills and wonderful depth of talent. The Arrows trailed until the end, when a sudden, decisive flourish of goals put the game beyond reach. But then the fighting broke out again. Kim Squire, unable to ignore the insults he was getting from fans and opponents alike, taunted the entire building when he was finally thrown out of the game, repreatedly pointing to the scoreboard, as if a slim one-goal lead was any excuse for his behaviour. I am a huge Arrows fan. I love this team, and I believe they can be a major force for the next two or three seasons. I was elated to see them battle hard, come from behind, and win on the road against such a tough, scrappy, talented opponent. But I'm also very concerned. By the end of the game, the St. Catharines fans HATED the Arrows. I'm afraid Six Nations has to learn that every game is going to be like this, and their challenge this year will be to rise above the temptation to get even with their fists. The trick is to win it on the floor with skill, speed, precision, toughness and endurance, all of which the Arrows have in abundance. There are two ways their season can go. The Arrows can concentrate on lacrosse, Kim Squire can lead the league in scoring and, with a little luck and a huge amount of hard work and discipline, they can win the Minto Cup. The other possibility is Kim Squire can spend the rest of his junior career running for his life as the #1 target on the most hated team in Jr. A lacrosse. The way Squire played last night, he's going for both.
Another View ------------ ARROWS OPENER A WAR by thistles forever Remember Game # 3 of the OLA Final in Whitby? This contest was just as intense and mean spirited, yet well played. Plus the final score of 15-14 was identical to last year's match. This time Six Nations came out on top. The Arrows started fast and were up 4-0 before two Bill Lefeuvre short handed goals got St.Catharines going. The A's had to be relieved to escape the opening period down only 5-3. They dominated the second, outscoring Six Nations 7-3 for a 10-8 lead. Midway through the third it still looked like the Double Blues game, however the visitors rallied down the stretch. Trailing 13-12, Kim Squire drew three St.Catharines minor penalties in a row. A pair of Delby Powless power play goals put the Arrows ahead with 4 minutes remaining. The key play came two minutes later. Shorthanded Squire set up Jason Henhawk to give Six Nations a 15-13 lead. Lefeuvre answered with 58 seconds left but the A's couldn't tie it. Three fights broke out with 15 seconds to go and six players, including Lefeuvre, Sean Howe and Chris mackie were ejected. That was the end for the home side. It was a long game, over 2 hours 30 minutes. Despite all the goals, the netminders played well, Corey Quinn plays goal like he has ants in his pants and he's great fun to watch on the many occasions he's out of his crease. Ken Montour was also strong. With the score tied late in the contest he stopped Jeremy Hamm and Howe, both on breakaways. Credit to referees Gary Martin and Lines for keeping the game from really exploding. The spectators did not help matters. Are all lacrosse parents so high strung and hot blooded? It was nice to see Jason Luke out to support his former team. I only wish he'd stay off the glass and not bad mouth the kids on the floor. Save that nonsense for the Majors. Overall it was a game which left everyone exhausted. Let's hope the teams learn to pace themselves. Great lacrosse for May!
April 29Game #1 ------- The Athletics of St. Catharines got their 1998 Junior A home opener to a good start by beating the Northmen of Orangeville 14-7. The game could have easily been 25-5 but Buff McCready(head coach) settled the boys down and told them to focus on ball movement and defence. With the renewed co-operation with the St. Catharines based Spartan Lacrosse Club, the Athletics have assembled a very realistic contender for the Minto Cup this year. Returning A's Andy Turner, Chris Mackie, Blair Ferguson, Sean Howe, Rob Taylor, Tod Luey and co. have been complimented by former Jr. B stars Billy and Adam LeFeuvre, Mark Cotton, and Dave McGowan. Billy LeFeuvre in his first game as an Athletic had 4 goals and 2 assts. After that the scoring was pretty much spread out, which indicates that St. Catharines has considerable depth this year. Starting goaltender Cory Quinn, who had just come home from University and had limited practise, played very well. This is the fastest team that St. Catharines has fielded in years and will be a very hard team to run with. Team discipline, which the A's have had a problem with in the past was totally under control, especially in the 3rd period when the Northmen started venting out some of their frustrations." Retaliation penalties this year will not be tolerated" said coach Buff McCready before the game. A better measuring stick will come next week when St. Catharines faces Six Nation in St. Kitts on Wed. May 6 at 8:00pm at Bill Burgoyne Arena.
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