Knights Game Reports - 2008

OLA Jr B Council held their annual All-Star Game Saturday night at the Merritton Lions Arena with the Eastern Conference scoring six goals in the final five minutes of the contest to take a 19-14 triumph over the Western Conference.

Unfortunately there was no skills competition at this years’ Jr B showcase, however both teams got to tour the Ontario Lacrosse Hall-of-Fame located along the Welland Canal in St. Catharines.

Steve Fryer (Mimico) got the start for the Eastern Conference and Ryan Oldrieve (Owen Sound) was in goal for the Western Conference squad.

If you’re a fan of the high scoring, not defensive contests; this showcase game was right up your alley as the two teams combined for a total of 33 goals on 157 shots on net for the entire 60 minutes.

The Eastern squad jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never relinquished that lead although the Western team threatened a few times with the equalizer, but it never materialized.
The Eastern Conference got a pair of first period markers by Shawn Beer (Newmarket) with singles coming from the sticks of Daniel Ball (Barrie) and Pat Saunders (Halton Hills). The Western Conference responded with goals coming from Elijah Printup and Cody Johnson in the final six minutes of the first 20-minute session.

The second period was an all out blitz on new goalies; Andrew Ball (Barrie) in the Eastern net while Brendan Stevenson (Windsor) guarded the Western cage as both teams combined for 57 shots-on-goal resulting in seven goals from each side for a 11-9 Eastern Conference lead after 40-minutes.

In the third, with Torry Bigtree (Akwesasne) and Randy Johnson (Six Nations) taking their turns in the nets; the Eastern team stretched their lead to 13-9 by the midway point only to have the Western side reel off three goals in a row to cut the lead down to 13-12 with just under five minutes remaining.

However, that is when the Western goalie, Johnson decided he wanted to tie the game up and made it a 6-on-5 situation by racing up the floor to fire off a couple of shots at Akwesasne netminder, Bigtree. Alas the plan did not quite work out the way he had planned and got caught out of his cage as Pat Saunders fired the ball into the open net for the 14th goal of the game. However, it would Saunders Halton Hills Bulldogs teammate, Mike Brown getting credit for the game-winning-goal just 54 seconds later. Western goalie, Johnson made a few more attempts at scoring on Bigtree, but was stopped and was not able to get back to the netting in time to make the saves as the Eastern Conference players did not miss on their opportunities. A total of 57 more shots were fired on goal in the third period by both teams. The Western Conference finished with an 83-74 edge in shots-on-goal for the entire game.

The Eastern Conference would be led by their Game MVP, Chris Ford (Nepean) and his six-point (1G, 5A) night. Tyler Patterson (Mimico) (3G, 2A), Shawn Beer (Newmarket) (2G, 3A) and Pat Saunders (2G, 3A) all had 5-point games each. Krystian Seguin (Gloucester) (2G, 2A) and Patty Lee (Newmarket) (1G, 3A) finished with four-points apiece. Mike Brown (1G, 2A), Patty Lee (1G, 2A) and goalie Torry Bigtree (3A) had three-point contests. While two-point performances came from Mike McCusker (Clarington) (2G), Christophe Perron (Clarington) (2G), Mike Vertolli (Markham) (2A) and goalie Andrew Ball (Barrie) (2A). Single Eastern Conference points were by Daniel Ball (Barrie) (1G), Tyler Barnhart (Cornwall) (1G), Luke Walton (Huntsville) (1A), Brandon Meagher (Mississauga) (1A), Kevin Harper (Oakville) (1A), Shane Francis (Akwesasne) (1A), Tyler Campbell (Mimico) (1A) and goalie Steve Fryer (Mimico) (1A).

The Western Conference was led by their OLA Jr B All-Star game MVP, Cody Johnson (Six Nations) (3G, 5A) and his eight-point game. Josh Eldridge (Welland) (3G, 4A) and Elijah Printup (Niagara) (3G, 4A) had 7-point efforts. Andrew Soulliere (Windsor) (2G), Jeff O’Sullivan (Guelph) (1G, 1A), Jordan McMillen (Owen Sound) (1G, 1A), Jesse Thompson (Sarnia) (1G, 1A), Ryan Dilks (Hamilton) (2A) and Trevor Van Alstine (Orangeville) (2A) all had two-point games. Single Western Conference points were Jarrett Denny (Elora) (1A), Branden McMillen (Owen Sound) (1A), Marty Hill (Six Nations) (1A), Rudy Stawarek (Spartan) (1A), goalie, Ryan Oldrieve (Owen Sound) (1A) and Brendan Stevenson (Windsor) (1A).

Thanks to some strong goaltending by Andrew Marquis, the Nepean Knights were able to get an all important win tonight against Akwesasne. The Knights established an early 1-0 lead but both teams were met with good goaltending to start the game. It was a very low scoring affair with only a few goals scored in the first two periods. Nepean eventually took a 3-1 lead into the 3^rd, but Akwesasne came back to tie it up 3-3 at the end of regulation. Yes, a 3-3 tie. Hard to believe that is a lacrosse score, I know, but there were no shortage of good quality shots on the Nepean net and Marquis was up to the challenge.

As the teams entered the overtime period, the Knights found a bit of a spark and managed to find the back of the Akwesasne net two more times to finish the game 5-3.

Nepean took on the Barrie Tornado today, in what many thought would be a good test for the young Knights. The Knights started the scoring early, but couldn’t capitalize on several other chances throughout the period. A strong defensive game by both clubs left the score at 3-1 at the end of the first. The two teams continued to emphasize defence into the second and third which meant a low scoring, but exciting match between these two clubs. The Knights were in this one until the very end and, unfortunately, just couldn’t break through with a flourish of goals to take the lead.

Scoring for the Knights:

Craig Cowie 2 G, 3
Nepean Nevan Sullivan 2 G
Jordan Weedmark 2 G
Chris Ford 1 G, 3 A
Brett Lewandowsky 1 G, 1 A
Andrew Marquis 1 A