The Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks took a
lead, fell behind then came back to force overtime and eventually
pull off an 8-7 win over the Oakville Rock Monday night. Craig
England took a pass from Joey Cupido on a 3-on-1 break and
tucked the winning goal into the net behind Nick Rose for the
only goal of the extra period. Dhane Smith led the way for the
Kodiaks with 3 goals and an assist while Jamie Rooney and
Corey Fowler each had a goal and 4 assists for KW. Jeremy
Noble, playing his first Major Series Lacrosse game, had 4
assists for Oakville. Brendan Thenhaus and Patrick Corbett
each scored twice for the Rock. The game was Oakville's second straight loss in overtime.
The Kodiaks got off to a good start
thanks largely to Dillon Ward, who turned aside all 16 shots he faced
in the first period (and 49 of 56 overall) to help KW take a 4-0
advantage into the first intermission. They got goals from Fowler and
Smith then a pair from Ryan Benesch on similar shots
mid-height to Rose's right side about a minute apart.
Oakville started to find the range in
the second period while keeping KW in check to go on a 7-1 run to the
midway point of the third period, taking a 7-5 lead and looking like
they had control of the game. Then Rooney and Smith connected back to
back less than a minute apart with about five minutes to play in
regulation to even things up.
The play was back and forth with some
good chances on either side through the rest of regulation time and
through six minutes of the overtime, but both defences stepped up
their play to limit shots to ones the goalies could see for the most
part. Shortly before England's goal, Smith ripped a bounce shot from
outside that appeared it may have gone into the net just below the
crossbar but was judged to have hit to pipe so play continued.
Oakville went back down the floor and got a shot off on a 2-on-1.
Ward made the save, Cupido scooped the ball up in the crease and
raced back up to set up what became the winning goal.
England said his experience playing
some offence in Junior A helped him be a little comfortable finding
himself in the offensive zone “but over the years I've been a D guy
so it's always a little nerve wracking to get up there.”
The game was a physical affair,
particularly in the second half of the first period when very little
time was spent 5-on-5 because of a series of penalties to both teams.
They settled down though, and played tough but clean lacrosse. “I
think when you get two teams that are going to be battling for the
third and fourth spots in the playoffs it's going to be a little
chippy and a little aggressive,” said England. “I thought for the
most part we matched their intensity and that's what we've got to do
every game.”
For Noble, the game was an adjustment
back to playing indoors. “It's tough,” he said of the transition
back to the box game. “2012 in the Minto Cup was the last time I
played box lacrosse so it's a little bit different. It's fun. I love
this game; I like it more than field lacrosse. It's great to be back
playing box lacrosse.”
Noble said he will get as many games in
with Oakville as he can this summer, hopefully beyond the six minimum
that are required to take part in the playoffs. Scheduling is
difficult for him because he is also playing for the Denver Outlaws
in Major League Lacrosse and for Canada's team for the world field
lacrosse championships in July. “But
I really want to be a part of this team,” he emphasized. “It's
such a great group of guys and I want to get lots of box lacrosse in
so it's going to be a priority. Not just six, hopefully more than
that.”
