Northmen come up flat against Elora
Friday June 20 2008
By Mike Rawn, Staff Writer
With a chance to wrap up their third straight Mid West Division title, the Orangeville Junior B Northmen played one of their worst games of the season Monday night, a 12-6 loss against Elora.
The MacMaster Pontiac Northmen kept the game close through the opening period, but the Mohawks dominated the final 40 minutes to earn the division win.
“It’s disappointing when you get outworked in a game that means so much to us,” Northmen coach Blaine Burman said. “Everyone in the dressing room knew [the importance of the game], and we just didn’t respond. That’s disappointing. Our best players have to be our best players, and [Monday night] they were nowhere to be found.”
Elora scored first and never trailed in the game, although the Northmen pulled even on three occasions. Orangeville had first period goals by Steven Rodgers, Parmbir Sohal and Adam Hawkins, but the visitors regained the lead on a Mark Prohl goal with two minutes remaining in the opening period. Elora pulled ahead convincingly in the middle frame, outscoring the Northmen 5-2. Northmen captain Trevor Van Alstine and David Morton scored the Orangeville goals.
“We had our opportunities to get back within two [goals], and then we sat back and they ran the show on us,” Burman said about the second period. “They got three goals in five minutes in the second [period], and we were fighting even more from behind.”
Things didn’t get any better for the Northmen in the final period, as Elora scored three more goals — including two on the power play. Andrew Stoner scored the final Orangeville goal.
“We didn’t play as a team, and we didn’t do what the coaches said,” Van Alstine said. “We need to come out strong every game, and if we don’t we’re going to get buried like we did [Monday night]. We’ve got to come ready to play every night.”
Prohl paced the Elora offence with four goals, while Matt Quinton added three.
The Northmen still control their own fate, and with wins over Windsor (10-7) on Saturday and Guelph (6-11) on Monday they will clinch their division and the second seed in the Ontario Lacrosse Association’s Western Conference. Van Alstine believes the loss against Elora will help his team refocus heading into the playoffs.
“We had a long winning streak there, and it would have been nice to carry it into the playoffs,” he said. “It’s definitely a wake up call. Hopefully everybody comes ready to play on Saturday.”
Print this article
Email this article
