OHSWEKEN -- The St. Catharines Athletics jumped out to an early lead last night at the Gaylord Powless Arena and held pace for their fourth victory in as many games. It was the Mike Longboat - Kim Squire race that left its outcome uncertain 'til the very end. They thrilled the audience of 300-or-so with six goals apiece.
Pat Campbell patrolled the pipes for the home side but suffered a slow start, failing three times on the first four shots.
Peter Tavares teed up the opening goal on the A's first possession, hitting a breaking Wayne Burke who converted with a high quick-stick. Tavares played an inspired first period adding a snaky long-range goal and two more assists and some determined corner-work.
Marc Landriault launched a five-point night barreling between defenders and netting a high overhand to cap a decent rag job, this with Wil Buckland in the box serving his first of four infractions in his first game this season and his first since leaving Six Nations. He defended against his former teammates admirably and tallied a handful of interceptions and knock-downs including a solid stick-save on Squire with heels on the crease.
Carter Livingstone notched the third scarcely four minutes into the match dumping over Cory Bomberry's shoulder on a lone run.
Campbell then robbed Mark Steenhuis on a breakaway and seemed to find his form after that.
Longboat sparked his six-goal binge with a hard overhand while breezing across the slot area. His next four markers would all come on outside blasts.
The majority of Squire's tallies also came from well outside, mostly bombs from the high corner. An exception was his third of the night, arriving barely eleven minutes into the game. He snagged an offensive rebound, the Chiefs third in a row, with his right side to the net. He whirled counter-clockwise and shuffled a backward under-hand past Anthony Cosmo to the crowd's delight. This narrowed the score to 5-3 and came during a five-minute stretch of sustained Chiefs pressure in which the scoring chances were plenty. Had they finished on a couple more of them, it might have been a tight game from there on. Delby Powless dinged the goalpost but Cosmo stopped everything else. The Chiefs would not draw within two goals of the A's again.
Delby kicked off the second frame with another good chance, this on the breakaway. His resounding behind-the-back effort likely fooled Cosmo but the shot hit him squarely so we'll never really know.
After falling to an 8-3 deficit Powless finally bagged his first of two. He finished a perfectly orchestrated 2-on-1 with Kyle "Spinner" Jamieson with a massive low-high fake job. Powless also looked great a short time later finishing a marvelous passing sequence with a bullet behind-the-back feed to Shawn Wilkins who banged it off the post. Delby's second goal was another beauty, a floor-hovering zinger to the low corner.
He didn't look quite so great on a blatantly selfish penalty apparently in revenge for a simple shoulder-check. Nor did he look especially dazzling when leaving the game early after pacing the A's bench area, helmet in hand, cordially inviting a partner to join him on the floor. Regardless, his ball-work remains a treat that is alone worth the price of admission.
Tim Bomberry, that smashing young man, was in fine form. While a legitimately talented rearguard, he would seem to be migrating to a loose-ball strategy that involves less focus on picking up the ball and more on hitting the opponent in the head. It seems an instinctive component of his game and one that is surprisingly effective. He nailed Mike Hominuck in the noggin with a left hook while battling right in front of referee Grant Spies. Little did we know that it is Official Unsolicited-Punch-in-the-Head Amnesty Week where Spies comes from so he didn't have any problem with it.
Okay, I went out on a limb just there but that's the only explanation I could think of.
Unfortunately for the 'T-Bomb' it was not Checking-From-Behind Amnesty Week and while he was serving one of four non-sanctioned fouls, Mike Longboat took the opportunity to tie Squire at three goals each.
On the subject of opportunistic goals, Mark Steenhuis contributed a pair. He made it 9-4 with Campbell struggling to gain position after having the ball wrestled away from him behind his net by Sean Holmes who then tossed it out front for the assist. Later Steenhuis slipped in front of the net all alone and delivered on a bad defensive miscue.
Third period. Squire and Longboat knotted at fours. They traded power-play boomers about a minute apart. Then Longboat notched his sixth on a breakaway designed by Darren Mutch and Jason Levesque. Kimbo found the equalizer in the final four minutes and their contest would end in a draw. No overtime. Hardly seems fair.
An excellent game for Cosmo. I've yet to witness a sub-par performance from him and continue to wonder how the Toronto Rock continue to retain his services as a second-stringer with numerable pro teams lacking a starter of his calibre.
Some very entertaining lacrosse last night and the league is perhaps shaping up to be a competitive one - after seasons of accusation to the contrary. Brooklin is rumoured to have fallen a notch while Akwesasne shows signs of raising the bar. The A's go 4-and-0 without boasting any 'stars', quite unlike the Excelsiors, who have now added Colin Doyle to their array of spotlighters. The games have been close. It all bodes well. Looking forward to a fun season.
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