Marquee Games highlight Week 2 in the OJMFLL

Week 2 Review, Week 3 Preview. 

OJMFLL embarked upon Budd Park in Kitchener for the second straight week on Sunday, September 15, 2019. Some very interesting and entertaining match-ups defined the schedule on this day as teams start to find their identity and see how they match up against one another heading into the second half of the season. 

The first game of the day pitted two winless teams coming out of the first week with the Hamilton Bengals squaring off against KW United. With both teams feeling a little snake bit in their first two games, there was a sense of urgency and opportunity on both sides as they look to get the first edge on any potential tie-breaker on their opponent. Hamilton took a 4-3 lead after the first quarter and a 7-4 lead at halftime, capitalizing on their man advantage opportunities and KW’s undisciplined play. Both teams exchanged goals in the 3rd quarter with 3 a piece. The fourth quarter was all KW as they outscored the Bengals 7-2 on way to a 14-12 victory. 

KW was led by Mitch Taylor (6G, 1A, including 3G in the 4th Quarter), Shane Halliwell (4G, 1A), Ethan Warden (3G, 1A), Peter Azevedo (1G), and helpers from Max Benoit, Carter TenEycke, and David Pavlinich. Hamilton point getters included Cooper Day-Allison (5G, 1A), Will MacLeod (3G), Parker Johnston (2G, 1A), Andrew Hamilton (1G, 1A), Michael Grace (1G), Duncan Carte (2A), and single helpers going to Greg Love and Isaac Stephian. 

The Orangeville Generals and the Oshawa Blue Knights gave us the second gem of the day with two evenly matched clubs knotted up at 4 after 2 quarters of play. The 3rd quarter solved little as both teams netted two goals apiece keeping the score tied at 6 all.  Both teams scored fairly early in the 4th quarter and the score remained 7-7 until Tanner Buck netted what proved to be the game winner with 00:25 left on the clock giving Orangeville the game by a final of 8-7.  

Orangeville continued to demonstrate a balanced attack with 7 different goal scorers in this contest, led by Tanner Buck (2G, 3A), Landon Pater (1G, 1A), Evan Brake (1G, 1A), Devon Dunkerley (1G), Kurtis Cotton (1G0, Hunter Hartley (1G), and Gabe Hennin (1G). Oshawa point getters included Quinn Hyland (3G, 2A), Ben Smellie (2G, 1A), Eric Matthews (2G), and single apples going to Cole Tucker, Teagan Dempers, and Parker Pipher. 

The Hamilton Bengals had the short rest on this day as the suited up against the upstart Milton Chaos for the 3rd contest of the day. The final score of 13-3 in favour of Milton does not do justice to the near equal time of possession in this matchup, but rather speaks volumes to how in-tune Milton’s defence seemed to be as the Bengal offence just could not capitalize on the many offensive sets throughout the game. Many turnovers and changes of possession turned into fast break goals for the Chaos as they netted 9 goals in the second half of the game on way to their 3rd straight victory of the season. 

Milton was led by Jackson Webster (4G, 1A), Travis Reibot (4G, 1A), Julian Siragusa (3G, 3A), Zach Tarr (1G), Chase Forsythe (1G) and a handful of helpers going to Nick Volkov (5A). Bengals that hit the scoresheet were Greg love (1G, 1A), Will Macleod (1G, 1A), Duncan Carte (1G), and Robbie Watkins (1A). 

It was a rematch of the 2018 semi-final game (where KW United came up with one of their most memorable upsets over the Oshawa Blue Knights) in the 4th game of the day. The same could not be said for today as the OBK squad stormed out to an 8-3 lead going into half-time on strength of a 5-1 second quarter. KW got a little traction back in the second half of the game but could not make a dent in Oshawa’s 5 goal lead as the Blue Knights wrapped up their day with a 15-10 victory. 

The OBK squad was led by Parker Pipher (6G, 4A), Ben Smellie (6G, 2A), Quinn Hyland (2G, 5A), Spencer Edmonson (1G), and single helpers going to Eric Matthews and Hayden Chokrov-Evans. Shane Halliwell led KW United with 4G, followed by Riley Dasilva (2G, 1A), Ethan Warden (2G), Mitch Taylor (1G, 5A), Tacoma Haley (1G), and single assists going to Max Benoit and Carter TenEycke. 

Who wouldn’t want to see two undefeated teams wrap up the day? Well that is exactly what transpired as the defending League Champions Orangeville Generals took on the Milton Chaos, with both clubs putting their 3-0 records on the line. These two teams did not disappoint as they battled to a 2-2 tie after 15 minutes of play. The difference in this game was the 2nd quarter as the Gennies scored 3 unanswered and took a 5-2 lead going into half-time. Both squads traded 5 tallies apiece in the last two frames as Milton fell for the first time this season by the final score of 10-7, leaving the Orangeville Generals in sole possession of first place in the standings with a 4-0 record on the season. 

The Gennies were led by Devon Dunkerley (5G), Landon Pater (2G, 2A), Tanner Buck (1G, 3A), Teague landers (1G), Noah Millsap (1G), and Noah Longshore with a single helper. Chaos point getters include Julian Siragusa (3G), Travis Reibot (2G), Chase Forsyth (1G, 1A), Everett Herder (1G), with single assists going to Zach Tarr, Jackson Webster, and Nate Herder. 

League play heads up to Orangeville for Week 3 on Sunday, September 22 at ODSS, which is across from the Tony Rose Arena. Games for this day echo the Week 1 match-ups as teams look to make their adjustments and start to fight for playoff positioning as the top 4 only move on to the play-offs on October 6 in Oshawa.  

Visit www.ojmfll.com for the complete schedule and current standings. 

Misc thoughts: It’s always a special time whenever any league has a draft, such as the NLL did this week. It goes without say how closely knit this lacrosse community is, especially here in Ontario. To see so many familiar names get called is a special feeling that we all share with the players, even if it’s just a little bit. We see so many players come through the many leagues and organizations within the Ontario Lacrosse Association and the OJMFLL is no different. We would like to congratulates the many players who have made a stop here in our league on the way to fulfilling their lacrosse dreams and wishes them continued success. We’ll be pulling for you on the fields and in the stands. All the best to each and every one of you!