Excelsiors
Devoured By Kodiaks
By Brian R. Johnston
Brampton, ON -
Two teams entered the Powerade Centre
in Brampton with the intention of keeping their
respective undefeated seasons alive on Thursday
night, but unfortunately for the Excelsiors and
their fans, it was the Kitchener Waterloo Kodiaks
that succeeded in accomplishing that feat.
As unpredictable as the weather
has been, so too were the Excelsiors as they were
devoured by the Kodiaks 10 - 8 and now find themselves
in second place in the standings with a record of
3 wins against 1 defeat and having played one more
game than the Kodiaks.
Errant passes, impatience, an ineffectiveness
in finding one another in the lanes, poor shot selections
and costly defensive lapses were their downfall
in this game as the Kodiaks prowled, struck viciously
and earned the right to howl because of better finishing
touches and clutch defensive prowess at the most
appropriate times.
Kevin Ross (3 goals in regulation
and the eventual winning goal in overtime) led the
way for the Kodiaks and Rob Marshal (2), David Brown,
Jamie Rooney, Ryan Benesch and Dylan Llord added
singles to sum up the scoring in this one for the
Kodiaks.
Aaron Wilson led the way for the
Excelsiors as he had a 3 goal night and John McClure
(2), Colin Doyle, Dan Teat and Mike Hominuck all
tallied for the home team.
This game had plenty of action with
good speed but to those in attendance, it was the
physical play that most had to enjoy.
Neither team had a lack of desire
to mix things up, but things were relatively quiet
on the penalty front, even though there was serious
hitting and rough play by both sides.
The Excelsiors will be expected
to re-establish themselves on Saturday night against
the Peterborough Lakers and will have to focus on
a far stronger transitional game and establishing
control in the lanes like they had in their first
3 games of the season.
Meanwhile, the Kodiaks are going
to have the opportunity of experiencing what it
is like to have every team in the league gunning
for them to snap their undefeated status and things
should prove to be quite interesting for them for
the remainder of the regular season.
More lacrosse action will rise to
the forefront on Saturday night as the Excelsiors
will play host to their arch rivals the Peterborough
Lakers with a 7:00 p.m. start time at the Powerade
Centre.
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