Late Season Surge as BLC Stitches Together a Win Streak

By Mark Stehlin

After four consecutive one-goal losses, the Brooklin Lacrosse Club have put together a solid three-game win streak at the tail end of the regular season. Last night the Owen Sound NorthStars made the long trek south to Whitby and were defeated by a final of 10-5.  Sean Westley led all BLC scorers with a hattrick while the defense and starting netminder, Steven Orleman kept the NorthStars in check.

Taggart Clark with his 20th goal of the season opened the scoring and two more from BLC gave them a 3-1 lead after the first twenty minutes.

The NorthStars edged closer with a power play marker just two minutes into the second period. The home side answered with Ryan Barnable scoring in close on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Chris Boushy and Westley. Each team managed a pair of goals in the middle frame as BLC went to break hanging on to a two-goal lead.

Fans and players started to feel the heat in the third period. It seemed that the air-conditioning had been turned down in the main arena to accommodate an issue with ice in another pad in the complex. Westley scored three minutes into the final period for his third on the night and it turned out to be the game winner. Tanner Cook followed as he stretched across the crease to increase the BLC lead a couple of minutes later. Down the stretch, BLC defenders Nate Burns and Jacob Hickey put the game out of reach. They each snagged errant passes from the NorthStars and ran in unchecked for a pair of goals to settle the affair.

In the pipes, Steven Orleman faced 42 shots from the visitors and made critical saves for the win. Andrew Kidd in the NorthStars had to deal with a barrage of 60 shots and also made some key saves in the loss.

“In the second period there was more transition and some penalties which made it hard to find a flow to the game. I think right from the start Orley and the defense played awesome all night did a great job of holding them down,” said Westley outside a jubilant locker room after the  game.  

“It’s been great to evolve with these guys now that I have been here for a while. I’m excited about where we are and where we are heading. It will be a battle in these last two games but we need to keep this momentum going and take care of business heading into the playoffs,” he added.

Scoring – B Kearnan (1,1) Barnable (2,0) Boushy (0,3) Clark (1,1) Westley (3,2) Volkov (0,1) T Cook (0,3) MacLeod (0,1) Hickey (1,0) Woods (1,0) MacDonnell (0,1)

Next up two on the road to wrap up the regular season. Wednesday July 23 at 8 pm in Six Nations and Sunday July 27 at 4 pm in Owen Sound for a make-up game that was canceled earlier in the season as a result of a referee shortage.

Thank you to the Durham Region Police Service Choir for singing Oh Canada before the game.