Merchants Earn Convincing Victory Against Visiting North Stars

By Sam Laskaris

The Merchants Lacrosse Club is getting hot at a rather good time.

For the third consecutive game the Merchants racked up a victory, outscoring its opponent by a double-digit score.
On Friday night the Merchants downed the visiting Owen North North Stars 15-4 in an Ontario Series Lacrosse match held at Children’s Arena in Oshawa.

With the victory the Merchants boosted their record to 9-5. Since they have played one game less than the North Stars, who saw their mark fall to 9-6, the Merchants also jumped ahead of Owen Sound and into third place in the OSL standings.

Merchants’ assistant captain Dylan Goddard had a massive night on Friday, scoring five goals and added a pair of assists.
The Merchants now have one road game remaining in their regular season schedule, on Sunday against the Oakville Titans. That contest will be staged at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville at 7 p.m.

Goddard said a total team effort was the reason his squad was victorious against the North Stars.

“Hutchy stood on his head for us,” Goddard said of Merchants’ netminder Riley Hutchcraft. “Our goalies always stand on their heads for us. Our defence pushed the ball up well and our offence was clicking. We also stayed disciplined and took advantage of their penalties.”

Jeff Fernandes was also an offensive threat for the Merchants as he netted four goals. For Fernandes, it was his second four-goal game of the season.

Since it was a battle for third-place in the six-team OSL, Fernandes said his side approached Friday’s game as a playoff contest. And the Merchants answered the bell in convincing fashion. “We took control of that game and we didn’t stop,” Fernandes said.

The contest was actually close after 20 minutes.  

The North Stars managed to open the scoring but the Merchants then scored four unanswered goals. Owen Sound did manage to cut the deficit in half by scoring a power play goal before the opening period concluded with the Merchants up by a 4-2 count.

The Merchants, however, took control of the match in the middle frame. They scored eight goals in the second period while Hutchcraft shut the door on the North Stars and did not yield a single goal.

With a 12-2 lead heading into the final period it was just a matter of cruising to victory from there from the Merchants.

Cory Upshaw, Josh Toguri, Cody Filson, Dylan Riley, Jeremy McWatters, and Jake Gilmour also scored for the Merchants.