ALL East Quarter Finals - And Then There Were Four

This past weekend the Arena Lacrosse League East held their Quarter Finals, with four exciting match-ups.

Friday evening at the Memorial Arena in Brampton, Ontario 

Oshawa Outlaws 14  Brampton Express 19

The Oshawa Outlaws played the Brampton Express tough for most of the game.  The only blip was a five minute span in the second quarter in which Brampton scored six of seven goals.  A hole the Outlaws would try to dig out of the rest of the night.  Curtis Ward and Zach Sunderland led the attack to get the Express out to an 8-2 lead.

Josh Gilray (6g,2a) led Oshawa in their comeback attempt, but the Outlaws weren't able to get any closer than a three goal deficit.  Devlin Shanahan was spectacular in the Brampton net, facing 50 shots on the day, 17 coming in the fourth quarter alone to preserve the win.  

A balanced Express attack saw Curtis Ward (3g,3a), Jacob Janke (3g,3a), Tyler Halls (3g,3a), Zach Sunderland (2g,2a), Jake McNabb (2g,1a), and Andrew Horsley (2g,1a) lead Brampton to victory. 

For Oshawa Josh Gilray (6g,2a) led the way, with Carter Page (2g,4a), Alec Simons (2g,2a), James Whiteford (2g,1), and Taite Cattoni (2g,1a) as support.  John St. John (0g,6a) and Noah Millsap (0g,5a) were the playmakers. 

The Three Stars:

1. Josh Gilray  (Oshawa)
2. Tyler Halls (Brampton)
3. Jacob Janke (Brampton)

Saturday afternoon At the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville, Ontario 

Ohsweken Bears 12  Whitby Steelhawks 17

Worst case scenario would be if Ohsweken would fall behind by a large margin.  Well, the Bears fell behind 5-0 just ten minutes into the game.  The Bears fought back, bringing the game within two at 7-5 nearing halftime.  However, three Steelhawks goals at the end of the quarter restored a five goal lead.  Ohsweken got one more in the final minute but it was still a 10-6 lead for Whitby at the half.

The second half was much more evenly played.  The teams matched each other goal for goal, check for check all the way down to the wire.  Despite a solid effort from the Bears, Ohsweken fell to Whitby 17-12.

Brady Kearnan (3g,3a), Liam Osbourne (3g,2a), and Nate Woods (2g,2a) led the Steelhawks offense, with Cody Hamley (0g,3a) as the playmaker. 

Eddie Renaud (4g,1a), and Rioux Johnson (2g,4a) led the offense for Ohsweken, with Josh Sanchez (0g,4a), and Steven Portelli (1g,3a) as the playmakers. 

The Three Stars:

1. Liam Osbourne (Whitby)
2. Eddie Renaud (Ohsweken)
3. Lukas Coote (Whitby)

Sunday at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Hagersville, Ontario 

Early Game 

Toronto Monarchs 14  Paris RiverWolves 13

The Monarchs got off to a good start leading 3-0 less than five minutes into the game, never looking back.  Paris made a number of comeback attempts throughout the the game, getting as close as a goal on a couple of occasions. 

The Monarchs looked to be in control of the game heading into the fourth quarter but the RiverWolves kept pressing, scoring five of the next six goals to again only be down by one with 0:20 seconds left.  The Monarchs were able to hold on for the narrow 14-13 victory.

Jordan Dance (3g,4a), Tanner Buck (2g,2a), and Devon Dunkerley (2g,1a) led the Monarchs offense, with Parker Pipher (1g,4a) as the playmaker. 

As has been all season, the RiverWolves used a balanced attack with eleven different scorers on the day.

The Three Stars:

1. Jordan Dance (Toronto)
2. Nick Ellerton (Paris)
3. Joel Watson (Toronto)

Late Game 

Peterborough Timbermen 12  Six Nations Snipers 13 in Overtime 

The Peterborough Timbermen got off to a great start going up 4-1 in the first quarter.  The Timbermen continued to control the game through the second holding a 6-2 lead before the Snipers got rolling.  Thunder Hill scored a pair along with a Jaden Patterson marker to bring the game within one goal heading to the half. 

Peterborough came out on a mission in the third quarter scoring three of four goals to take a commanding 9-6 lead.  Thunder Hill and Wes Whitlow went to work for Six Nations scoring the next four goals to give the Snipers their first lead of the game.  Aaron Woods would answer for Peterborough with a pair of goals, followed by Sam Parent for a 12-10 Timbermen lead with only 5:34 remaining.

Cue the dramatic finish...

Wes Whitlow scored a pair of late goals to send the game to overtime.   In the extra period, Whitlow once again converted a Jaden Patterson pass with a blast that beat Ethan Robertson for the game winner.  Six Nations wins 13-12 in overtime.

Thunder Hill (5g,3a) and Wes Whitlow (5g,0a) were the offensive muscle for the Snipers.  Jeremy Bomberry (0g,4a), Ross Hill (0g,3a), and Jerry Staats (0g,3a) were the playmakers. 

The Timbermen were led by Cam Milligan (2g,5a), Jack McAlpine (2g, 4a), and Aaron Woods (3g,2a).

The Three Stars:

1. Wes Whitlow (Six Nations)
2. Aaron Woods (Peterborough)
3. Thunder Hill (Six Nations)

The Semi Finals:

3 pm - March 29th at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Hagersville, Ontario 

Six Nations vs. Brampton Express 

8 pm - March 29th at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville, Ontario 

Toronto Monarchs vs. Whitby Steelhawks 

You can catch all the Arena Lacrosse League action on YouTube at Arenalacrosseleague Channel 3