Athletics blaze into second round
The St. Catharines WMKL Athletics got over a huge psychological hump, defeating the Burlington Blake 7-6 Wednesday at Canada Games Park to take the best-of-three Ontario Junior Lacrosse League quarter-final playoff series 3-1.
“This team needs to know how to win a round and get out of the first round and that’s what was so satisfying tonight,” A’s general manager Jeff Chcoski said.
Halfway through the season and struggling with a 1-9 record, qualifying for the playoffs seemed out of the question.
But the team responded to some tough public comments from Chcoski and head coach Steve Toll to turn around their season, making the win even more satisfying.
“It almost felt like they won a championship. It felt like the weight was off their shoulders. A lot of these guys have been around for those years,” Chcoski said. “We all know there were some tough conversations and for these guys to pull through, it’s very, very rewarding at this point.”
The A’s dropped the opener of the series before roaring back to take three straight.
“It’s been a roller coaster ride and to get ourselves in the position — Burlington has been a nemesis to us for a bunch of years — we knew this was our chance to take it home and move on to the next round,” Chcoski said.
The A’s led 6-4 after two periods which set the stage for a dramatic third period.
The A’s narrowed the gap to 6-5 with 1:24 to play before Keaton Zavitz netted an empty-net goal with 19 seconds to play to put the A’s up 7-5. The Blaze then scored with three seconds left to pull to within one.
Veteran Thunder Hill, picked up at the trade deadline, came through with five goals and an assist and has been a solid presence since his acquisition.
“It went against my philosophy of what I was going to do (adding a veteran) but without him, we probably would have been in some danger this round,” Chcoski said.
If Six Nations defeats Peterborough, the A’s will play Mimico in the next round. If Peterborough wins, the A’s play Orangeville. Six Nations leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 Thursday in Six Nations.
STATS PACK
A’s 7 Blaze 6
Peterborough
St. Catharines Athletics: Hill 5; Trent Mooradian, Keaton Zavitz.
Burlington Blaze: Xander Derkatz 2; Cody Innes, Alex Mariner, Gavin Thibeault, Chuck Rawson.
Up next: If Six Nations defeats Peterborough, the A’s will play Mimico in the next round. If Peterborough wins, the A’s play Orangeville. Six Nations leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 Thursday in Six Nations.
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