The Oakville Rock were within a couple
of minutes of downing the powerhouse Six Nations Chiefs and clinching
their first earned playoff berth in Major Series Lacrosse. They had
an 8-7 lead and were looking for some insurance. They almost got it,
twice.
First Stephan Leblanc drove to
the net and appeared to put the ball past Dillon Ward in the
Chiefs goal, but Ward pulled out a spectacular save to deny him. A
little later, Brier Jonathan picked up a loose ball in the
Oakville zone and sprinted up the floor on a three on one. He filled
the centre lane with Alex Crepinsek to his left and Ian
MacKay, playing just his third MSL game, to his right. Jonathan passed
the ball to MacKay and cut over to set a pick on Craig Point,
the lone Chief back.
MacKay nipped around the pick and cut
to the top of the crease, where he proceeded to throw one fake after
another at Ward. With the goalie falling back, MacKay fired the ball
into the net for what would have been a critical insurance goal. But
referee Roger Nurse adamantly pointed towards the carpet,
indicating that MacKay had stepped on the crease line. The slight misstep would come
back to haunt the Rock.
Six Nations took a time out with less
than a minute to play and sent six attackers into the Oakville end.
It didn't take long for the strategy to pay off Dhane Smith
stepped around the top of the zone and simply fired a rocket past
Steve Fryer in the Rock net.
Jay Thorimbert won the faceoff
and just 26 seconds later, Smith did it again, ripping home another
outside shot. Just like that, it was 9-8 for Six Nations. Another 12
ticks of the clock and the game was over, and with the final buzzer
there went Oakville's hopes of clinching a playoff berth.
Now Oakville has two final chances to
get into the post season, and both rely to an extent on the Brampton
Excelsiors. On Wednesday night, Brampton visits the Brooklin Redmen,
who are one point behind Oakville in the standings. An Excelsiors win
would eliminate Brooklin and put the Rock into the post season. If
Brooklin wins, though, Oakville will have to beat the Excelsiors in
Brampton Thursday night.
One benefit for Oakville if Brooklin is
able to win Wednesday is that the Thursday game at Brampton would
give them a chance to earn third place. Because Oakville has a 2-1
lead in the season series, they could leapfrog the Excelsiors for
third place if they pull into a tie with Brampton, who is currently
two points ahead of the Rock. Of course, if Brampton wins Wednesday,
they clinch third and leave the Rock hoping to squeak into the
playoffs. It all makes for an exciting final week of the 2015 MSL
season.
