Beaches give Arrows a run for their money
By Blue
It was well worth the drive to T.O. as we were treated to a spirited clash that featured neck-and-neck scoring and some sensational goaltending.
Despite the low score and the large number of penalties this was actually a pretty quick-paced game with lots of fast-break action. The pace had to be tough on the Arrows who, although appearing to be one of the more conditioned teams in the league, were coming off a game the night before and looking just slightly fatigued. It showed in their increased number of dropped passes, a small decline in their usual creativity and the frequent penalties, many of which were the lazy type. Jason Henhawk in particular was extremely active in the previous game and tonight was not nearly as dominant. He left the game early, I assume for hitting the 5-penalty limit.
This is not to knock the Arrows performance tonight. Both teams played technically sound lacrosse on both sides of the ball. The even-strength play featured a few miscues on both sides but this can be forgiven as the even-strength lines had precious few opportunities to get things flowing. Referees Johnston and MacArthur's whistles were constant. Lots of turnovers and penalties - many of which were quite marginal in my opinion. You couldn't pick your nose out there without getting a double-minor. There would have been even more penalties if Beaches' Chris Durno had his way. He was in the refs' ear all night. This guy is determined to get as much mileage from his "C" as he can!
I must confess I had not planned on reporting this game so I did not do the usual homework and I sat in the lounge where announcements could not be heard (although that may change in the future). As a result I can not say with certainty who scored the Arrows opening goal. His number 16 was not included on the line-up sheet but I'm pretty sure the young man in question is a newcomer named Brett Bucktooth. Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong. Brett penetrated the crease area on a very sharp angle and started throwing fakes. "You'll never score from there!" I graciously informed him. But he couldn't hear me through the glass and proceeded to thread the needle with a dump behind John McLellan.
"He won't score from there, eh?" smirked Brine Boy. He's very good at pointing out my mistakes. It's one of his better skills in life. Certainly better then his driving.
Later Chris Durno stick-handled out of his own end without realizing he'd lost the ball moments before. The resulting loose ball was knocked ahead to him and he snapped it back up and threw a high lob to the breaking JD Smithson. Smithson approached goalie Jake Henhawk alone, showed him some shakes and beat him to tie the match.
More input from the young talent as Raweras Mitchell scored a marvelous goal to regain the lead. Caught in close on his wrong side, he spun backwards and nailed an over-the-shoulder bouncer. This kid is gonna be a star one day so you may as well start learning to pronounce his name!
After a whole wack of penalties the Beaches struck on the man-up. Ryan Cousins, the passing machine, hit Matt Holman in the low corner. Holman threw a diagonal pass back to Thomas Witte who bulleted a high one by an immobile Henhawk. 2-2.
Jason Henhawk broke down the floor ahead of a defender and well into Toronto's zone, he gained control of the ball and released a rather ordinary shot that rebounded into the corner. Henhawk tracked it down and fed the trailing Stew Monture. Monture alone in front threw a couple fakes left and scored on the right and the Arrows took a 3-2 lead to the dressing room.
After five minutes of whistles Matt Holman, short-handed, emerged from the low corner and hit Garret Kikot in front. Kikot picked the top corner on a point-blank side-arm. 3-3.
Beaches' Pat Magee took four or five consecutive elbows to the chin from Jason Henhawk that went unnoticed by the officials. Magee then extracted revenge on Delby Powless, knocking him head-first into the boards. Penalties were dished out and Magee would be ejected later in the game. I have no idea why.
Six Nations earned a short-handed marker of their own. On feeds from Russ Davis and Joe Squire, Steve Bomberry zoomed in on another bad angle and tried the dump-behind. I didn't breathe a word this time. The shot bounced up, rolled off McLellan's shoulder and fell in. 4-3.
The tit-for-tat scoring continued. Toronto tied it up for a while before Drew Bucktooth (Arrows #55 - also not on the sheet but I believe I have it right) scored on the rebound with a nifty low cross-hander from right in front. 5-4.
Smithson evened the score on a long under-hander with a millionth of a second on the shot clock.
With five minutes remaining in the second, Arrows Dan Elliot launched a pass up to Kyle Jamieson who swung it across to a flying Mark Anderson. Mark hit the high slot facing two defenders. He shot a hard overhand between them and a crouching McLellan, way ahead of the net, got most of it but it popped behind him with just enough momentum to make it over the goal-line before McLellan dived back.
Matt and Phillip Holman set up Bobby McBride for the inevitable tying goal.
Into the third period and it seemed only a matter of time before the Arrows would pull ahead again. Brett Bucktooth (I hope) bore down on his defender, jogged sideways and ripped home the under-hander.
The game's "turning point" occurred on the final goal.
The scoring pattern finally deviated on an absurd play. McLellan took possession in his crease and with two Arrows in front of him, he had the opportunity to launch an odd-man rush up the floor. But Mitchell deflected the pass, killing most of the ball's momentum, which caromed off towards Roger Vyse. McLellan charged out of the net to challenge Vyse but the arrow snagged it first, side-stepped the skidding goaltender and delivered it to the wide open net.
McLellan was no goat. He played an absolutely superb game. This is undoubtedly a first rate goaltender.
Full marks to the Beaches for their effort. They are in good company. Both Orangeville and St. Catharines have lost to the Arrows by the same 8-6 margin.
I should note that we took Mr. MacKay's advice and sampled the in-house menu. The cheeseburger gets a thumbs-up. The fries are so good as to rival Six Nations fries. But the house specialty - the Barley Sandwich - was marvelous and I returned for several more. And speaking of the celebrity lounge, we enjoyed a nice conversation with the ever-congenial Wamper in which he suggested I must get myself a quadruple bypass so I can be full of energy just like him! I don't know about that. What would the world do with two of us?
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