July 13, 2023 · 0 Comments
By Brian Lockhart
The series went the full distance, but the Orangeville Junior C Northmen came out on top with a win in game five of their best-of-five playoff series with the Brantford Warriors.
The Northmen finished the regular season in second place in the Western Conference of the Ontario Junior C Lacrosse League with an 11-7 record and 22 points.
Brantford came to the playoff series as a last-place team in the Conference with a 4-13-1 record.
Game one of the series got underway at Tony Rose Arena on June 29.
The Northmen started out strong in the first period and led for the entire game for a 12-4 win.
Game two of the series took place in Brantford on July 2. This time the Warriors tipped the game in their favour in the third period when they outscored the Northmen 3-1 in the frame to tie the series with a 12-10 win.
Returning to Orangeville for game three on July 4, the Northmen were back in the lead with a tight 10-7 win after outscoring the Warriors in the second and third periods.
The series was again tied when the Warriors shut out the Northmen in the first period of game three. Orangeville had a good third-period rally scoring four times but came up short and took a 7-5 loss.
The loss forced game five of the series with a do-or-die situation for both teams.
The deciding game took place at Tony Rose Arena on Saturday, July 8.
It was a strong start for the Northmen, with Zach Dorval scoring the two opening goals. Josh Presley scored to give Orangeville a 3-0 lead.
Brantford scored, followed by another Northmen goal from Hunter Hartley.
Jack Fitzpatrick and Nick Haladuick rounded out the period with late goals to give the Orangeville squad a 6-2 lead going into the second period.
The Northmen stayed in the lead with goals from Luke Downard, Devan Doig, and Logan Marshall in the second period.
With a 10-4 lead going into the final period, the Northmen blew the game wide open with goals from Blake Martin-King, Logan Marshall, and Josh Presley. Brantford scored two late in the game.
The Northmen won the game 13-6 and earned the right to advance to the next round of playoffs.
The Northmen will be up against the Six Nations Stealth, with game one scheduled for Friday, July 14.