Since 2008, the Minto Cup has been awarded 14 times. The Coquitlam Adanacs and Orangeville Northmen have won seven of those. In 2024, one of them will hoist the trophy once again.Â
The two blue blood programs of the last two decades meet once again for a best of three series to decide the Minto Cup. Game one will go Thursday night, with game two being Friday and a possible third game Saturday.
The matchup will be at least the third finals matchup between the two teams since 2010. That year, the Adanacs won on the back of Ontario transfer Mark Matthews and one of the greatest teams of all time.
In 2016, the Adanacs got back in the winning column, defeating the Northmen in an epic five game series.Â
They also met in the 1993 Minto Cup, which was won by Orangeville.
In 2024, the Northmen navigated an unusual round robin. After dropping game one, they beat the Raiders and sat their best players to give them some rest against Coquitlam. That was only for the Orangeville reserves to actually beat Coquitlam. The Adanacs entered the bye on a loss, and will look to find their winning stride as soon as possible.
The games can be found on trickshot, and the link to the streaming options can be found here. I will be on the call alongside Jake Elliott tonight.
Lets get into five keys to watch tonight.
Win Your Matchup
The reality is that the most important factor in this series, as in every other series of box lacrosse, is goaltending.
Nobody in junior lacrosse has had a better run through the last month than Connor O’Toole and Jack Kask.
O’Toole was spectacular against Beaches, and St. Catharines, and got the job done against a very talented Mimico offence.
Kask posted two shutouts this season, including one in the playoffs. He helped Coquitlam post ridiculous goals against numbers this season.
I think both of these players would tell you themselves that they need to elevate their game during this tournament. Teams can overcome small disadvantages in the goal, but not big ones. If one of these two can dramatically outplay the other, the series will be over.
It’s worth noting as well that both Lindyn Hill and Tristan Lomas are capable backups who have seen lots of time this year. Their coaches trust them and they are ready to compete when called upon (Hill won the game for Orangeville against Coquitlam). Will we see them this week? That remains to be seen.
How Will They Look?Â
The most unusual thing about this final series is that we really aren’t sure how it’s going to look. Orangeville’s entire offence for the most part did not play against Coquitlam in the round robin and we still are not sure how Coquitlam will try to play them.
The most interesting adjustment is what Coquitlam decides to do with Ty Banks. As a right-handed defender, he will typically play against lefty forwards. However, against Port Coquitlam, Banks shifted over to cover right-handed Silas Richmond quite a bit.
They could choose to do the same against Joey Spallina, who was the leading scorer in Ontario and has had another strong tournament. But given how well Liam Matthews has been playing (9 goals in his last two games), as well as Trey Deere (7 goals in the semifinals), I would expect Banks to play mostly against those two.
One of the major keys to the game is the extent to which Banks and others can shut down the lefty two-man game of the Northmen. Spallina is an offence of his own on the right side, but it seems like the lefties are the engine. For Matthews and Deere, they did their damage so far against Brayden Laity and a talented Saints defence, so they are battle tested.Â
This battle will continue once the ball is on the ground and in Coquitlam possession, as Deere in particular is excellent on the forecheck. Coquitlam needs to control the ball and the pace in these scenarios, and not give the lefties any free goals.
This scenario would leave the coverage of Spallina and the Orangeville righties to Connor Nock, Jaxon Fridge, and Remo Schenato. Expect them to try to use physicality, especially early in the game.
Get to the Middle!
The most important key for Coquitlam is getting the ball inside. Jaxon Dillon has had an incredible tournament for the Adanacs shooting the ball from the outside, but it’s a hard path to travel on Orangeville. Mimico had success throwing the ball inside to cutters, and the Adanacs did that well against POCO.Â
The other thing they have had success with is driving on individual matchups, and trying to get to the goal. The Saints scored like that against Orangeville and Coquitlam will look to do the same. Cody Malawsky is particularly adept at this, and Noah Manning can do it to.
Either way, the ball needs to get to the middle. If Orangeville can keep them to the outside again, they will have success.
X-Factors
I wanted to highlight two guys I think are X factors, and they have similar stories.
Noah Manning and Bowie Horsman are both fifth year, right-handed forwards who came over from other teams at the trade deadline. Neither of them has the ball as much in their new role as they may have with their original clubs, which has resulted in some adjustment.
These adjustments have led to slightly lower outputs than they may have had elsewhere, but the players have been instrumental in getting their clubs to the finals of the Minto Cup.
But when these players get their chances, they remind the world that they were legitimate first options for other teams. In both of their cases, the kids can really shoot the rock.
Horsman scored some big goals for Orangeville, and had 4 points in the tournament opening win. He has an ability to score from the outside which could loom very large in this series, and just because he hasn’t been on a tear in the tournament, doesn’t mean he can’t get hot now.
The same is mostly true of Noah Manning, who had a huge game against POCO, scoring 8 points. The Saints gave him too many open looks, and eventually he was going to cash them in. The Northmen will not want to make the same mistake.
Momentum is Fickle!
There are two big stories of momentum tonight. The first is the early part of the game, when Orangeville has so often started fast and put the squeeze on teams before the game has barely started. The second is the first game of a best of three series, which carries so much weight.
The early part of the contest is so important for Coquitlam. They have the fresher legs, and need to utilize them to push the tempo and dictate the pace. The Adanacs did not look emotionally prepared against Orangeville in the round robin and they can ill afford to do that again.
But the first game is more important to Orangeville. The palace should be rocking for all three games, but I expect it to reach a fever pitch as we get to Friday and Saturday. Orangeville does not want to have to win both weekend games in front of that crowd. Getting out to a good start is crucial.
It all starts Thursday!
who would had thought a pair of americans on opposing teams would ever be squaring off for the minto?