Elora Mohawks get on a run to slip by Guelph Regals
GUELPH – When the Guelph Regals and Elora Mohawks get together for an Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League match, it’s usually a tough, hard-hitting close match.
The two teams turned in another encounter Wednesday night at the Victoria Road arena that fit that mould.
Elora Mohawks 9 Guelph Regals 6
“Always good games. Always great games,” Regals coach Al Burton said. “They’ve just been beating the heck out of teams along the way and we’ve had our share of that as well along the way. Whenever we meet up it’s always a good game. I think there’s that kind of intense rivalry in proximity as well. A lot of the guys know each other and they’ve played on various teams (together) along the way. It’s a pretty good rivalry and we have to play them again. That’s the good news. We’ll have our full team then.”
“We’re so close together and a lot of these kids know each other,” Elora coach Scott Cook echoed. “You put the lacrosse aside, there’s always a rivalry no matter what it is. It could be in hockey, lacrosse or school sports.”
While the matches are usually tough and hard-hitting, they’re usually clean hits, too.
“It’s refreshing to have those games, too,” Cook said. “It’s nice to come down and play a full 60 minutes of good lacrosse.”
It also helps that neither team would have to recover from bus legs for their away game between the two, if buses are even used for the half-hour trip.
Wednesday, the Regals shot ahead 6-3 just after the 12-minute mark of the second period, but couldn’t add any more goals as the Mohawks scored six in a row for a 9-6 victory.
“We were up 6-3 in the second period and we never scored after that,” Burton said. “That’s hard to swallow with some of the good offensive people we have on our team. We’ll get there. We’ll keep working at it, keep chipping away. That’s what good teams do.”
While both teams were relatively happy with their performances, both know there’s more to come.
“I’m really proud of the guys tonight. Sometimes it’s hard to say that when you lose a game, but I’m really proud of the guys,” Burton said. “At the end of the day we played real well. We made some mistakes that really cost us and you can’t do that against a good team. They’ll make you pay. We weren’t particularly disciplined in the third period and they’ll make you pay with that as well. All in all, happy with the performance tonight.”
“It definitely could be better,” Cook said. “We got off to a slow start, but this group comes back all the time. Really it’s just the slow starts, there’s not much else to say.”
The Regals led 4-2 at the end of the first period and the teams were tied 6-6 at the end of the second. Elora broke the tie less than a minute and a half into the third.
Jayden Bushey, Brett Harrison and Matt Allen each had two goals and two assists for the Mohawks while J.J. Lavigne, Sam Dramnitzke and Jordan Mueller added single goals. Dramnitzke also had three assists.
Marcus Keleher and Dallon Evans each had two goals for the Regals while Dylan Davey and Ethan Keleher also scored. Owen Orpana collected three assists while Sam MacDonald, Marcus Keleher and Evans each had one.
Sam Hadley started in net for Elora, but was replaced by Nathan Whitton at 15:50 of the first period after the fourth goal by the Regals. Whitton gave up two the rest of the way to pick up the win. Hadley had 10 saves, Whitton 34.
Dante Mancini went the complete game in net for the Regals and had 43 saves.
Elora outshot the Regals 52-50, but were scoreless on eight power plays while the hosts went 1-for-4.
The result leaves Elora perfect with seven wins in seven outings and the Regals at 4-2-0.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Elora Mohawks get on a run to slip by Guelph Regals
GUELPH – When the Guelph Regals and Elora Mohawks get together for an Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League match, it’s usually a tough, hard-hitting close match.
The two teams turned in another encounter Wednesday night at the Victoria Road arena that fit that mould.
Elora Mohawks 9
Guelph Regals 6
“Always good games. Always great games,” Regals coach Al Burton said. “They’ve just been beating the heck out of teams along the way and we’ve had our share of that as well along the way. Whenever we meet up it’s always a good game. I think there’s that kind of intense rivalry in proximity as well. A lot of the guys know each other and they’ve played on various teams (together) along the way. It’s a pretty good rivalry and we have to play them again. That’s the good news. We’ll have our full team then.”
“We’re so close together and a lot of these kids know each other,” Elora coach Scott Cook echoed. “You put the lacrosse aside, there’s always a rivalry no matter what it is. It could be in hockey, lacrosse or school sports.”
While the matches are usually tough and hard-hitting, they’re usually clean hits, too.
“It’s refreshing to have those games, too,” Cook said. “It’s nice to come down and play a full 60 minutes of good lacrosse.”
It also helps that neither team would have to recover from bus legs for their away game between the two, if buses are even used for the half-hour trip.
Wednesday, the Regals shot ahead 6-3 just after the 12-minute mark of the second period, but couldn’t add any more goals as the Mohawks scored six in a row for a 9-6 victory.
“We were up 6-3 in the second period and we never scored after that,” Burton said. “That’s hard to swallow with some of the good offensive people we have on our team. We’ll get there. We’ll keep working at it, keep chipping away. That’s what good teams do.”
While both teams were relatively happy with their performances, both know there’s more to come.
“I’m really proud of the guys tonight. Sometimes it’s hard to say that when you lose a game, but I’m really proud of the guys,” Burton said. “At the end of the day we played real well. We made some mistakes that really cost us and you can’t do that against a good team. They’ll make you pay. We weren’t particularly disciplined in the third period and they’ll make you pay with that as well. All in all, happy with the performance tonight.”
“It definitely could be better,” Cook said. “We got off to a slow start, but this group comes back all the time. Really it’s just the slow starts, there’s not much else to say.”
The Regals led 4-2 at the end of the first period and the teams were tied 6-6 at the end of the second. Elora broke the tie less than a minute and a half into the third.
Jayden Bushey, Brett Harrison and Matt Allen each had two goals and two assists for the Mohawks while J.J. Lavigne, Sam Dramnitzke and Jordan Mueller added single goals. Dramnitzke also had three assists.
Marcus Keleher and Dallon Evans each had two goals for the Regals while Dylan Davey and Ethan Keleher also scored. Owen Orpana collected three assists while Sam MacDonald, Marcus Keleher and Evans each had one.
Sam Hadley started in net for Elora, but was replaced by Nathan Whitton at 15:50 of the first period after the fourth goal by the Regals. Whitton gave up two the rest of the way to pick up the win. Hadley had 10 saves, Whitton 34.
Dante Mancini went the complete game in net for the Regals and had 43 saves.
Elora outshot the Regals 52-50, but were scoreless on eight power plays while the hosts went 1-for-4.
The result leaves Elora perfect with seven wins in seven outings and the Regals at 4-2-0.
- Guelph Sports Journal