Minto Cup Game Three Recap: Northmen Come Through in Clutch

The Orangeville Northmen used a big third period to beat the Raiders Lacrosse Club 6-3 on Sunday and improve to 2-0 at the 2025 Minto Cup. The loss pushes the Raiders to 0-2 on the weekend, and they will have to win Monday to have any chance at advancing.

Liam Matthews continued his big tournament with 2 goals and 2 assists, while Max Kruger had 2 goals and 2 assists of his own to lead the Northmen. Cash Frijters and Russell Bollinger had a goal and assist each to lead the scoring for the Raiders.

In case you missed the rest of our recaps, check them out below:

Game One Recap

Game Two Recap

But for now, let’s get into the Minto Cup game three recap!

New Year, New Story

These two teams met last year, with the Northmen storming out to an early lead and never looking back. This year was a very different story. The first period would end 1-1, but it was the kids from Alberta who carried the play early against the Ontario champions.

The first period might have been the best of the season offensively for the Raiders. There was a concerted effort to set hard picks and roll into the middle which resulted in numerous looks right on top of Orangeville netminder Evan Constantopoulos. The Raider off-ball game was much more active and fluid as well which helped generate way more quality looks.

Fortunately for the Northmen their gigantic netminder was there waiting to shut the door.

I give the Raiders coaching staff a lot of credit because the offensive approach was night and day better than it’s been for quite some time. Defensively the Raiders were jumping up high all over the place and getting on hands, not allowing perimeter looks or anything over the top. They looked like the team playing with more effort and urgency for the first half of this one. However, after all of this the Northmen would escape the first tied 1-1.

Northmen Punch, Raiders Respond

In the middle frame that defensive pressure of the Raiders continued and they were able to force multiple shot clock violations and turnovers. There were many times Orangeville was caught holding the ball for far too long and being shoved into the corner with limited options. The positioning and aggressiveness of the Raider defence was controlling the game despite their offence starting to slip about midway through the second period.

One thing that was still evident was how often Orangeville was getting beat on the pick and roll and their defenders weren’t switching properly or too slowly.

Next thing you knew, the ever dangerous Liam Matthews would drive underneath and score back to back goals to give Orangeville the 3-1 advantage. Much like Constantopoulos bailing them out in the first it would be their other star doing so in the second. But the Raiders weren’t about to go away quietly getting a pair of goals from a couple of their standouts, Russel Bollinger and Cash Frijters to send the game to the locker room tied once again.

Winning Time

In the third the script flipped and it was the Northmen playing much more cohesive and urgent ball. With a quick PP marker by Max Kruger the Northmen finally settled into an offence that was moving and sharing the ball much better. Orangeville countered the Raiders heavy defensive pressure up high with quick swings followed by back cuts and rolls into the middle. Defensively, the Northmen didn’t give up anything all that dangerous in the latter part of this matchup and started to play more sound defensively. The game would end with the Raiders forced to the distant perimeter and the Northmen draining the shot clock.

With the victory the Northmen will be set up to play for the bye into the final tomorrow evening while the loss will force the Raiders to hope beating Coquitlam and jumping to 1-2 will be enough to get into the 2v3 semi-final Tuesday.

Three Stars

#1. Liam Matthews (ORG)

Pulled the Northmen out of the fire when their offence was really struggling to generate good looks, and quarterbacked another beautiful goal on the power play for Kruger.

#2. Evan Constantopoulos (ORG)

Outstanding first half of the game allowed his team to get its footing and was extremely solid the rest of the way. He’s very efficient, without much wasted movement in the crease. When he’s on, there just isn’t much to look at.

#3. Rhys Ursell (RAI)

This is a nod to the entire Raider defence as they were very active and played on their toes all night. Ursell is a player that never gets talked about but has tremendous athleticism and is very good on clears.