CLax Checkin: Week 6 Recap

And here we thought the standings were a mess after week 5! Week 6 proved once and for all that there are no sure things, not only in the game of lacrosse, but especially in the Canadian Lacrosse League. 3 games on the schedule saw every team except the Oshawa Machine play, except they had some big news as they lost Mack O'Brien for at least 4 weeks with a broken hand. Here's a recap of the games this weekend:

Game 1: Durham Turfdogs vs Ohsweken Demons, ILA

The story of this game was the Ohsweken special teams play. In the opening period Chris Attwood, who has dominated this league since week 1, scored twice short-handed and added an even strength assist. Stu Hill also scored twice in the first frame and Kyle Isaacs added a single to make the score 5-1 after 1. In the 2nd period Torrey VanEvery scored on the powerplay and Ben Powless added a 3rd short handed marker for the Demons. Mitch Dumont and Dan Ransom were the only 2 players to score for the Turfdogs in the opening half, as it finished 8-2 in favour of the home team Ohsweken.

The Turfdogs opened the 3rd with a 3-1 run over a few minutes time frame with Ransom and Dumont netting their second goals with Eric Bissell scoring his first. Cory Bomberry mixed in his 2nd powerplay goal (and the Demons' 3rd). To end the 3rd the teams traded goals with the Demons short handed with Delby Powless scoring a shorty, and John McClure picking up the powerplay marker. It sat 10-6 Ohsweken after 3. The Turfdogs tried to keep up the pressure in the 4th but newcomer Jeff Powless continued to slam the door. Isaiah Kicknosway, VanEvery and Murray Porter ended the scoring for the Demons at 13 before Damon Edwards added 2 goals, 1 short handed, and Scott DeFrancesco ended the game to make it 13-10 in favour of the Ohsweken Demons.

These two teams have sat close to each other in the standings of late, and have been going in opposite directions. The Turfdogs were looking to use this game as a building block to turn around their 2 game losing skid. However, the Demons ended their own slide in stead further compounding the problems for the Durham club. It will be interesting to see how Durham rebounds.

For the double header results from Brampton on Saturday, follow the jump.

Game 2: Iroquois Ironmen vs Brampton Inferno

An interesting matchup had the team with 1 win on the season facing the team with only 1 loss, both of those coming last week. However, the way this game went you wouldn't be able to tell which team held which record. The Ironmen came out strong with 3 goals, 2 from Marty Hill and an additional one from Elijah Printup. Brampton would finish the frame with 2 from Dan Williams and Brett Shaw to make it 3-2 after 1. Brampton would continue their streak and tie the game early in the 2nd on a powerplay goal by Pat Saunders. Printup for the Ironmen and Dave Cutten for the Inferno traded goals to tie it at 4. But then it was all Ironmen. 5 straight goals from 5 different players finished the period to make it 9-4 headed to the break in favour of the Ironmen.

Wayne VanEvery opened the 2nd half with a powerplay goal for the Ironmen. The Inferno followed up with 2 markers, the 2nd of only 2 times they were able to string 2 goals or more together in the game. That made the score 10-6 and it would be 11-7 after the teams traded goals again before Iroquois finished off the frame with 4 goals in just over 5 minutes. Brad Favero scored twice in the 4th quarter, and Dylan Llord added a single but it was too little too late as Mitch Nanticoke scored twice in the quarter to complete his hat-trick and Wayne VanEvery and Marty Hill added a goal each to finish off their own hat-tricks. Cody Johnson mixed in a single of his own to make the final score 20-10 for the Iroquois Ironmen.

The Ironmen finished the game with 3 players scoring hat-tricks but the story of the game was Mike Attwood. He hadn't played goal in a few years before this game but he looked like he hadn't taken more than a day off stopping 50 of 60 shots the Brampton Inferno threw at him and really gave his team a chance to win. Rob Blasdell remained in the net for all 20 goals against, even though the Ironmen only had 41 shots in the game. It's a 2nd rough start out of 3 games for Blasdell, it will be interesting to see what coach Brian Beisel does in the coming weeks.

Game 3: Ohsweken Demons vs Peel Avengers

After the Inferno lost the matinee matchup, the Avengers knew first place was up for grabs in the prime time portion of the double header in Brampton. It was thought the Ohsweken Demons would taper off as the game progressed due to tired legs, but every time that issue has come up, the team in question has done the exact opposite of tapering off. What would Ohsweken do?

5 different players would put up goals for the Demons is what happened. While Peel managed 2 powerplay goals in the opening quarter, that was all the offence they could muster. The first quarter ended with a score of 5-2 for the visiting team. Stu Hill and Chris Attwood both scored their 2nd goals of the game in the 2nd quarter while Torrey VanEvery and Clay Hill added single markers. Kyle Goertz would score the only tally for the Avengers, a short handed marker sandwiched in between the 4 Demons goals. At the break it was 9-3 for Ohsweken.

And then the floodgates opened. Peel started the 3rd with 3 goals before Ohsweken answered with a 4 goal run of their own to open up a 7 goal lead. The first 2 of those goals were on a 7 minute powerplay after John Quarrie took a roughing minor and a major for grabbing the facemask on the same play. It seemed whenever Peel tried to get going, they took a penalty and the Demons capitalized. Quarrie would score 2 in the period to try and make up for his miscue, but Peel's 6 goals only matched the 6 of Ohsweken, and it kept the Avengers' deficit at 6 goals.

In the final quarter the teams traded goals before Cory Bomberry completed his hat-trick on the powerplay, the Demons added two more and Attwood finished his hat-trick as well completing the 4 goal run. Peel scored 3 in just over 3 minutes but the Demons would get 1 back on Clay Hill's 2nd. Kim Squire would complete his hat-trick before the game was over and Scott Watson would score the Avengers' 6th of the frame. But, again, the score for the period was 6-6, and the game ended with Peel down 21-15.

Peel was able to go blow for blow with the Ohsweken Demons in the 2nd half. But their first half deficit was too much to overcome. Despite having a solid special team performance only a night earlier, the Demons could only must 6 goals on 13 opportunities while the Avengers scored 3 on 7 chances. Jeff Powless started in net for the Demons after coming over in a trade with Ohsweken earlier this week, and Powless shone. He stopped 31 of 46 shots but many of them were huge attempts, and in key situations. He has to be considered a player of the game.

Spencer Janes did not dress in the 2nd half and as the game got chippy late, players like Brendan Muise and Ryan Campbell found themselves doing some of the dirty work. Brendan admitted after he doesn't do it much and it'll be a while before he does it again but when a job needs to be done, you go out and do it. A great mantra except that, like their Powerade Center counterparts, the Peel Avengers couldn't get a win.