St.Catharines 11 Orangeville 10(overtime)

NORTHMEN TEST ATHLETICS FOR SEVENTY MINUTES

by thistles forever - Game #18

ORANGEVILLE - Five years ago the mighty Whitby Warriors visited the BunnyBarn. They'd yet to win a Minto Cup, yet Bishop's Boys and their perfect season were the talk of the league. Until Josh Sanderson scored a homeric goal on the last possession of the game and the Northmen went on to defeat the Warriors in overtime.

This year there hasn't been much talk about a perfect season. Credit the Double Blues for wisdom and modesty. But the prospect of perfection must be at the back of their minds. Friday night they faced a stiff test in Orangeville and survived. Once again the HornHeads pushed the premier team in junior lacrosse to extra time. On this occasion they fell short - an 11-10 defeat.

Despite a late arrival due to traffic and a short warmup, St.Catharines controlled the contest early. Sean Greenhalgh, the kid with the lime green undershirt(shouldn't he be nicknamed Limey?) got the champions started. Brandon Cullen continues to become more of an offensive force as he extended the visitors lead to two. It took Orangeville 13 minutes to solve Matt Attwood. Chad Culp beat him for a power play goal. The opening period ended 2-2 as the Black and Silver had a 12-9 shot edge.

The Minto Cupholders came out of the gate flying in the second. Pat Russell went end to end to score at the 28 second mark. Greenhalgh hit pay dirt from outside 34 seconds later. Later Jon Donnelly and Dave Bowman gave the home side a chance to get back into it. They both picked up minor penalties at the same time. The two manadvantage was shortlived as Billy Dee Smith drew a holding penalty. Unfortunately Smith retaliated with a slash and Gary Martin was right there to catch him. Comically Smith jogged to the bench as if nothing had happened and disappeared. After a minutes' delay Martin finally got the St.Catharines player into the box. The Northmen were unable to score on the initial two penalties but they did strike on Smith's infraction. Matt Marchildon picked the top righthand corner with a lazer shot. That brought the HornHeads to within one at 5-4. They were soon down 7-4. Mike Hominuck went through the middle on a power play and blew a shot through Scott Patterson. Patterson plays incredilbly deep in his net and a number of goals he gave up he got a piece of but couldn't keep out. On Hominuck's point blank blast Patterson was practically in the net! Jon Iannucci followed by scoring off his own rebound. Marchildon completed his hattrick with 21 seconds left in the period to get Orangeville close again. Shots: Orangeville 18 St.Catharines 13.

The A's went up 8-5 early in the third period. A pretty bit of three way passing - from the top right to the left corner and back up top - ended with Smith ringing his shot off the post. St.Catharines retained possession and Cullen scored. Nathan Sanderson answered that seconds later. The Northmen cut the advantage to 8-7. A beautiful no look pass from Brad MacDonald was finished by Bryan Kazarian's quick stick. As things had gone all night, just as the challengers drew close the champions bolted ahead again. St.Catharines made it 9-7 on a tough goal to take. A way out shot by Mike Longboat had no business scoring yet it did. Still the HornHeads would not quit. Kazarian struck at the midway mark then again 4 minutes later. Thanks to #11's inspirational play Orangeville came on strong down the stretch. They nearly won it with 90 seconds remaining. Attwood robbed Marchildon on a rebound. The home side had a period shot edge of 17-8.

Overtime saw yet another fast St.Catharines start. Kyle Neufeld scored in the first minute. A short time later they had a two on one break, unluckily it was Jon Donnelly and Rory Glaves. They failed to score but Pat Russell came back seconds later on a breakaway and he made it 11-9. From there the clock ticked away as the Double Blues awesome defence dominated. Kazarian finally struck with another huge goal on the power play. That left Orangeville with 2 minutes to tie it. Their best chances came on their final possession. With Patterson on the bench they got three shots on Attwood. The third was MacDonald with a rebound in the slot. Somehow Attwood turned it aside. 11-10 A's. Overtime shots: Orangeville 9-7. Game total: Northmen 56-37.

A narrow escape for the champs. They probably were not at their best yet still won. That's why they're champions. One thing is certain, you cannot fall behind against this team. No matter how well you play you must play with the lead or you will lose.

The Northmen are back! They played an excellent game and deserved a positive result from it. Even with this loss I suspect they're out of their slump and will merit watching from now on. Brodie Merrill came back early from his injury to give inspiration. The offensive stars, Marchildon, Kazarian and Culp were all at their best. And the unsung heros, MacDonald, Darren Halls, Kris Bryan and Jamie Dowdell were all brilliant.