A Couple Things: Toronto is the Last Undefeated Team in Canada

The Toronto Beaches defeated the Orangeville Northmen 13-6 Sunday night at Tony Rose arena. While they arrived at the arena as one of two unbeaten teams in the OJLL, their victory and simultaneous Mimico loss left them in sole possession of first place and as the only undefeated team left in Canada. 

I was on the call for the game for the OJLL, and the full stream can be found below. 

Let’s get into A Couple Things from this one. 

And Then There Was One

I mentioned it in the intro, but the Toronto Beaches are the last undefeated team left in Canada at the Jr. A level. From what I have seen, they must also be considered the favourite in both the OJLL and looking forward to the Minto Cup. 

Orangeville was significantly short-handed in this one. Superstar Joey Spallina did not play for the Northmen, and neither did captain Jaden Ciappara. Orangeville kept it close for the first 10 minutes of the game, then made a nice run in the second period. But outside of a few isolated moments, Beaches was in control from whistle to whistle. 

Obviously last year’s Northmen team reset the precedent for dominance in the regular season when they went undefeated. This year’s Beaches team still has a very long way to go. They are 9-0 but have important games remaining against Mimico for the Crombie Cup, and a lot can happen in a Jr. A season. With only eight games played, it’s probably too early to start wondering about the undefeated season. But we aren’t too far off either. 

Kiazyk Caps Incredible Week

Nobody in junior lacrosse had a better week than Thomas Kiazyk, who went 4-0 and even scored a rare goalie goal in their victory over Brampton. He was spectacular on Sunday night, repeatedly stone-walling the Northmen shooters. 

Kiazyk is a big goaltender who is athletic enough to play like a smaller one – a good combo for the Beaches. He can step out and cut down the angle on the power play, and he’s quick enough to get across the crease on passing plays. I also loved how he used his stick in this one, as he started the break several times for his team. It didn’t necessarily lead to points, but they were quick passes that led to easy breakouts for Beaches. 

This was a good example of his athleticism, as Orangeville had great movement on their powerplay but Kiazyk read it well and stayed in the play. 

Obviously the offence is the headline for Beaches, but Kiazyk is the X factor that makes them title contenders. 

Thunder and Lightning 

Willem Firth and Matt Collison form arguably the most feared two-man game in the country this year. It’s a combination of different yet complementary skill sets that makes them dangerous. Firth is much smaller than Collison but incredibly slippery. He is also an elite feeder and off-ball player. Here is one example of the off-ball play, as he streaks down the backside of the defence and finished the quick stick. 

Collison is one of the biggest players in the OJLL. Listed by Johns Hopkins at 6’4, 225, he is basically an automatic double-team. Opposing defences mostly have to hope that he takes outside shots, because when he gets going downhill it is a real issue for the defence. 

On this play, Donny Scott and the Northmen play 25 seconds of great defence, only for Collison to score at the end. Again, once he gets a head of steam, his ability to shoot on the run becomes a real problem. 

But the real problem is that these players and their differing skill sets play on the same side of the ball. So a team needs to have two game plans, one for the towering Collison and one for the slick Firth, and they need to be able to switch between those game plans fluidly. 

The biggest problem for the defence is when their skills mesh on the same play. On this goal, Firth comes off the up-pick and lays in a nice one-handed flip pass to Collison, who calmly buries it. Collison is the second-last guy you want shooting, with the first being the man making the pass. It’s just a difficult decision for defensive units. 

Goaltenders are going to be crucial in these scenarios. Collison is an elite outside shooter, but he’s unstoppable going to the goal. Teams are going to have to live with some of the shots against and hope they get saves. Northmen goalie Zack Richards was solid on Sunday, but Beaches was just overwhelming.

The Beaches are back in action on Wednesday in Oakville against the Buzz, who currently have one of the best defences in the league. I will again have the call for the OJLL in that one. While Orangeville will look to get healthy and get their squad back on the floor when they make the road trip to Six Nations on Wednesday.