The Brampton Excelsiors brief Junior A season came to a heartbreaking close on Sunday in Oakville, losing the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League final to the St. Catherine’s Athletics 14-13.
The Excelsiors made the Iroquois Trophy final after posting a 6-2 record during round robin play, good enough for 2nd in their division, and defeating Whitby 8-7 in the semi-final. St Catherine’s had defeated Mimico in the other semi-final to secure their place in the finals.
The final was expected to be a defensive affair with both teams coming in averaging right around 5 goals against per game. The score was tied 3-3 after the teams kept trading goals. The 2nd period was an offensive explosion, with St. Catherine’s outscoring Brampton 9-7 to take a 12-10 lead going into the 3rd period. Late in the 3rd period, shortly after St. Catherine’s scored to go ahead 14-11, goaltender Steven Orleman was ejected from the game for slashing. Caleb Slinger came on in relief and made several saves which allowed the Excelsiors to stage a late comeback.
After cutting the lead to 1 with about 30 seconds to play, the Excelsiors went all out, getting several excellent chances including hitting a post with just seconds left, but they could not find the equalizer.
While the end result wasn’t what they wanted, I’m sure if you asked anyone 2 months ago, they would have been thrilled with the idea of even being able to play this season. The Junior A club would like to thank the OJLL, Commissioner Mark Grimes, The Toronto Rock Athletic Centre and everyone else who made this season possible.
The Brampton Junior A Excelsiors would also like to thank their 1999 born players for their contributions:
Pent Eistrat
Nathan Grenon
John Vezina
Kyle Waters
Oriale Mandeville
Kris Veltman
Steven Orleman
The future remains unknown for the 2000 born players, as decisions regarding increasing the age of the Junior A division still need to be made. If this is their last game, the Excelsiors wish to thank the following players:
Austin Hasen
Seth Van Schepen
Mackenzie Burke
Zac Sunderland
Owen Blount-Smith
Mathew DeAmicis
Patrick DeAmicis
Caleb Creasor
Jordan Medeiros