Craig Point led the way with 4
goals and 4 assists as the Six Nations Chiefs dumped the Oakville
Rock 18-10 in the first Major Series Lacrosse Game played at the
Toronto Rock Athletic Centre. The Chiefs, expected to put on a big
push for a Mann Cup berth, were simply too much for the young Rock,
although Oakville had some promising stretches. The problem for the
Rock was that, even when they did some things right, they often went
wrong for them. Point provided two of the best examples.
The righty forward worked his way
across the slot with the ball in the second period with Bryan
Campbell engaged on defence. Campbell had good position on Point
and even shifted slightly to the back shoulder as Point moved to his
right, taking him to a position where a behind the back shot was
probably his best option. Unfortunately for Campbell and Oakville
goalie Tye Belanger, Point ripped a perfect low back-hander
just inside the post for a goal. There was very little either could
have done to stop it.
In the third period, a pair of Rock
defenders knocked Point down while he was carrying the ball in the
offensive zone on the penalty kill. He hit the turf, rolled once
while holding on to the ball, popped to his feet, swam between the
defenders into an open seam down the slot and buried a goal over
Belanger's shoulder. That was the first of 3 short-handed goals the
Chiefs would score in the third.
Even the usually defensive-minded Rory
Smith got into the act. Smith, with the ball firmly set in his
wooden stick, cradled the ball along the half-boards until he saw an
opening to make a swim move to split two defenders, ran towards the
net and cut across the crease while throwing a pass fake then dumped
the ball in over Belanger.
Smith wasn't the only defensive zone
player contributing for the Chiefs. Rob Marshall scored twice,
including the first goal of the game just 8 seconds in, and Rodd
Squire added a pair. Tom Montour, Colin Boucher and
David Brock each scored once, with Montour adding 3 assists
and Boucher 1.
Former Chief Stephan Leblanc
directed the Oakville offence in his debut since being traded to the
Rock. He scored 3 goals and added 2 assists in a solid performance
for his new team. Rookie Nic Grasby also played a big role in
running the O and collected a hat trick despite sitting out 14
minutes in penalties after a kerfuffle with Six Nations defender Sid
Smith. Oakville's first pick in this year's draft, third overall
Jordan Critch, added 4 points with a goal and 3 assists in his
MSL debut.
You can watch the webcast of the game
in the archives by clicking on the Webcast Sports icon in the right
hand column of this page.
