The Oakville Rock took eight games to
earn their first win of the season, but they didn't wait nearly as
long to get their second. Just one night after beating KW 14-8 to
break their 0-7 run to start the year, the Rock downed Brampton 10-7
behind a 4-goal, 2-assist performance from Kevin Ross to
improve to 2-7. And just like that, in the tight Major Series
Lacrosse standings, they're three points out of third place and
looking much better in the race for playoff positions.
Oakville took advantage of a sluggish
Brampton start to jump on the Excelsiors and lead 5-1 after 15
minutes. Brampton tried to fight back and got a pair in the final
1:12 of the first period to draw within a pair but were never able to
get closer than that.
Ross had a big night, doubling his
point total for the season in his third game, and the best play of
them all was an around-the-world shot that he whipped into the far
corner past Tyler Carlson as he was getting too deep along the
side of the crease for a regular shot. “Yeah, that was the last
resort desperation shot and I just kind of threw it and it went in,”
Ross said. “It's nothing that I think I'd want to try to repeat too
often but it was a fun game when things like that are working.”
Ross said the mood in the Oakville
dressing room has brightened considerably over the last couple of
days. “It's a lot better. We're not an 0-7 team even though we had
that record. A couple of games we fell short against Kitchener,
against Brooklin. The mood in the room was obviously disappointed
that we've got the losses but knowing that we're right there. It's
just a matter of time till we start putting a few wins together. We
stayed confident, stayed calm, and now we're seeing results.”
Unfortunately for former head coach
Phil Sanderson, the wins came a bit too late to save his job.
Matt Sawyer replaced Sanderson after the seventh loss and is
now 2-0 at the helm of the team. “We were 0-7 but I don't think
that's a reflection of the coaching at all. Phil's a great coach, a
heck of a motivator and a great lacrosse guy. Everyone in the room
respects him,” Ross emphasized. “That said, Matty's come in and
done a great job and is a great experienced guy as well. No, I don't
think Phil is the reason we were 0-7 but when you have that record it
tends to fall on somebody and a lot of cases it's the coach. Phil's
not used to that situation. I'm sure it was a tough decision for
Josh, but we're looking forward now and Matt's leading the ship.”
Brampton coach Paul Stewart
pointed to the coaching change as a factor in Monday's game. “Teams
that go through coaching changes can be dangerous. Phil Sanderson was
a great coach and very well liked and respected and I suspect a lot
of those guys feel like [expletive] that the poor start cost him his
job, which can be motivating,” Stewart said. “On top of that, you
bring in Matt Sawyer who has earned the reputation as a guy who is as
good as anyone at watching film and pinpointing every single mistake
in a game. Combine those two things with the return of some of their
players and that is a team that you have to take seriously.”
Stewart ultimately placed most of the
blame for the loss on his own team's failure to come ready to play,
though. “We came out flat and go the result we deserved for doing
so,” he said.
