There were some juicy storylines during day three of the Minto Cup. In the end, the Coquitlam Adanacs did enough to confirm the first overall seed. Orangeville and Port Coquitlam will meet in the semi-finals tonight. The Raiders are out.
The Saints took care of business in the first game, beating the Raiders 12-5. Captain Brayden Laity continued a strong tournament for the Saints, finishing with 2 goals and an assist. Joshua Mills had a strong effort for the Saints with 3 goals and Silas Richmond added 3 goals and an assist. Cash Frijters saved his best for last, finishing with 2 goals and 2 assists.
In the second game, the Orangeville Northmen made a tactical decision and decided to rest their four leading scorers, Aiden Long, and their starting goaltender. The logic was that they were unlikely to make up the margin of victory (roughly 8 goals) needed to get the top seed, so they took the opportunity to give their scorers a night off.
In a twist, the Orangeville reserves came in with some passion and took it to the Adanacs, eventually winning 12-9. Cam Sanderson continued his strong tournament with a 4-goal effort, while Vince Onofrio had a goal and 4 assists, and Owen Rahn had a hat-trick.
Jaxon Dillon scored 3 goals for the Adanacs, and is the tournament leader in points after the round robin (keep in mind however that Orangeville’s leading scorers did not play Monday).
It was not pretty, but the Adanacs did enough to secure the top seed and the crucial day off. Meanwhile Orangeville got some momentum from their younger players and reserves, and the Saints will look to recreate the magic they found on day one.
Let’s get into some more detailed notes on the games, and make sure to follow along with LCD’S coverage this week.
Big Third Propels Saints
Give the Raiders credit, they refused to go away in this tournament. The youngest team in Coquitlam, they have just two graduates and two fourth year players. They battled through injuries in the tournament and even in the loss to the Saints.
I was particularly impressed with Colton Savard, the captain of the Raiders. He took a massive hit against Orangeville which ended with his head hitting the concrete. He was bleeding fairly significantly on the floor, and needed immediate attention from the team staff. Unable to play the third, he watched the entire period beside the team bench in full gear.
Then Monday, he came back into the lineup and delivered a gutsy effort. The Raiders lost another defender to injury in the game and played a lot of defence towards the end of the game.
Savard was nearly always out there, blocking shots and playing tough defence. As one of just two graduates on the team, he had the difficult task of being a leader on such a young team. Down three games to two against the Miners in the RMLL finals, Savard helped lead the team to victory in seven games. He led them admirably this week as well. A mechanical engineering student at UBC, Savard won’t have far to go as he begins his university year.
There were no metaphors needed for Savard’s play this week. He literally bled for his teammates, and refused to go quietly into the night. He embodied a Raiders team that kept coming back for more all season. If and when this team has success in the future, remember the contribution of Savard.
Switching to the Saints, they got their depth scoring back. After Silas Richmond scored 4 of 6 goals against the Adanacs, they got back on track in this one. Mills had 3 goals, Richmond had 3 goals, Laity had 2 goals, and Hunter Meyer, Finn Halladay, and Austin Lamoureaux all found the back of the net. Anahalihs Doxtator made some great feeds as well, bringing his total to 9 assists in three games.
The other positive was that Ashton Brown regained his form from the beginning of the tournament after a difficult night on Sunday. He actually played well against the Adanacs in my opinion, but the game got away from the Saints near the end. He bounced back Monday.
I thought Luke Neary had a good effort out the back door for the Saints. Neary was making his tournament debut, stepping in for the lineup for the injured Jordy Neary… his older brother.
Seeing a teammate go down is never easy, let alone when that teammate is your brother. Neary brought some physicality and size into the lineup and handled himself well in his Minto Cup debut. I also thought Ethan Quinn and Jensen Jones played well, and have been good compliments to leader Brayden Laity.
Against Orangeville, I expect the Saints to try and use that size advantage and keep their big lineup in from Monday (Neary and Hunter Meyer give a good size boost). They know that the Orangeville team they see tonight will be different than the one they saw on day one.
But the Saints will show a different look as well.
Wait, We Were Supposed to Lose?
To say that the Orangeville Northmen were “conceding” the game would have been too strong. But once the rosters got released, it became clear that Orangeville was preparing for the play-in game. They ended up sitting Joey Spallina, Liam Matthews, Trey Deere, and Bowie Horsman, along with Aiden Long and goaltender Connor O’Toole.
Perhaps that decision lulled the Adanacs into letting their guard down ever so slightly, as the Northmen led from the end of the first period through the end of the game.
While ultimately not enough to secure the first seed, the game was an organizational triumph for the Northmen. To have reserves capable of coming into that spot and competing at that high of a level is a testament to the depth of the Northmen program.
Cam Sanderson is having an incredible tournament, having scored 6 times now in his two games. He played only four times in the OJLL playoffs and did not compete in the finals. Now making his mark in the Minto Cup, Sanderson is a testament to being ready when your number is called.
The same can be said of Owen Rahn and Vince Onofrio, who made the most of their opportunity to run a power play and handle the ball. Sean Costigan, a defensive player all year for the Northmen, played out the front door and looked just fine.
Several if not all of these offensive players were Orangeville minor players and products of that Orangeville developmental system. If that lineup played the Adanacs ten times, they would likely find a different result. But some unlikely Northmen players stole the moment on Monday. Good for them.
For the Adanacs, it was a reminder that a lot of lacrosse remains to be played. They will become one of the first teams in the tournament’s history to lose their last game and still get the bye. But they still get the day off, and credit to them for finishing hard in the Sunday game against the Saints. Those extra goals loomed large.
From a lacrosse perspective, Coquitlam was held on the perimeter for most of the game, and getting inside needs to be the primary point of focus going forward. In the scheme of things, having a wake up call before the final series is not the worst thing. The Adanacs have not lost a game since June 21.
Overall, I think the Orangeville roster decision may have impacted the intensity of the Adanacs. I expect a different team in the medal round.
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