The Orangeville Northmen defeated the Six Nations Arrows 5-2 on Wednesday night at the ILA, in the lowest scoring Jr. A game in more than five years.
The combined 7 goals scored was the lowest cumulative score since Friday May 17, 2019. On that night, the Peterborough Lakers beat the now defunct Barrie Lakeshores by a score of 3-2. This analysis considers only regularly scored games and does not include the Toronto Beaches forfeited games from last summer.
Vegas Desert Dog Landon Kells was the goaltender of record that night for the Lakers, while Ethan Woods was the goaltender in net for the Lakeshores. No player in the game scored more than 2 points.
Last night, defender Alex Messier scored twice to lead the way for Orangeville, who won a game despite getting just 2 goals from their offensive personnel.
While he spends his winters competing for the @ErieOtters, Alex Messier is indoors this summer competing for the @JrANorthmen
— Lacrosse Culture Daily (@LaxCulturedaily) June 26, 2025
His two goals last night were crucial in the Northmen's low scoring victory! pic.twitter.com/6oM6NcPYRs
Orangeville and Six Nations are not just the two best defensive teams of the summer, but they are two of the best defensive teams we have seen since the pandemic. Going back to the 2022 season, only the 2023 Northmen had a better GAA (5.85) than the 2025 Northmen (7.13 GAA) and the 2025 Arrows (7.57 GAA).
It’s worth nothing that the game last night was the lowest scoring since the OJLL changed their rules during the COVID pandemic. In 2019, there was no timeline to advance the ball and the game was played considerably slower.
Last night’s game narrowly edges Kitchener-Waterloo’s 5-3 victory over the Oakville Buzz on June 10th as the lowest scoring game of the year and highlights another dominant defensive team in Orangeville.
Since the pandemic, Orangeville has produced 4 of the top 9 defensive teams by goals against average. Overall, the Northmen have had a combined goals against average of just 7.1 per game, the best in the OJLL during that span. That’s more than a full goal per game better than second place Toronto Beaches.
The Northmen are next in action Friday in Kitchener, while the Arrows play Friday in Brampton.