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Ontario
Championship Series returns to Brampton Once Again
For the 13th year in a row the Brampton
Excelsiors will be battling in the final round of
the Ontario Senior A Championships. It couldn't
be more fitting as the club celebrates its 125th
anniversary, but it is winning the championship
that matters more than anything to this team that
finished the regular season in first place and has
their sights set on hosting another Mann Cup.
After losing in the 1991 finals
to Brooklin and then winning back-to back Mann cup's
in 1992 and 1993 Brampton had a two year hiatus
from the OLA Championships. They returned in 1996
only to face the soon to be inducted hall of fame
Six Nations Chiefs ('94, '95, '96 Mann Cup Champs).
They lost that series and fell to the Niagra Falls
Gamblers in 1997.
1998 would prove to be a pivotal
year as after defeating the re-named Buffalo Gamblers
and regaining the Ontario Championship, the Excelsiors
played host to the Mann Cup and moved out of historical
Memorial Arena and into the new Powerade Centre
(Brampton Centre for Sports and Entertainment).
The move would prove to be fruitful as the Mann
Cup drew crowds of close to 4000 for each of the
6 games it would take for the Excelsiors to defeat
the Coquitlam Adanacs.
The Excelsiors would retain their
Ontario title in 1999 after a 5 game series against
the 2nd year Akwesasne Thunder (now St. Regis Indians)
but would lose the Mann to the Victoria Shamrocks
on Vancouver Island.
2000 saw the resurgence of the Brooklin
Redmen, who defeated Brampton after 7 games and
went on to host and win a Mann Cup of their own.
Brampton returned the favour by taking the title
back in 2001 and 2002 in 5 games. 2001 saw the Excelsiors
lose the Mann Cup to the Coquitlam Adandacs courtesy
of some last minute heroics by Colin Doyle (an Adanac
at the time) in a game 7 thiller. The team rebounded
and treated the City of Brampton to a nail-biter
of their own coming from behind after trailing by
8 goals at one point, to beat the Victoria Shamrocks
in a tremendous game 7.
In 2003 the Peterborough Lakers
returned to the Ontario Finals and a new rivalry
would begin. Brampton had defeated their nemesis
the Brooklin Redmen in six games, and Peterborough
had knocked off the top seeded St. Catherines Athletics.
Brampton managed to defeat Peterbough in 5 games
to earn their 3rd Ontario Championship in a row,
but lost to Victoria on the West coast once again.
Peterborough would be back for another
go in 2004 and held home floor advantage in a year
that not only would see the Mann Cup in Ontario,
but saw the Peterborough crowds begin to multiply
immensely. Brampton forced a game 7 after Peterborough
led the series 3-2, but in front of a sold out Memorial
Centre Peterborough would earn the bragging rights
for Ontario and went on to win their first Mann
Cup of the decade against Victoria.
In 2005, under new head coach Troy
Cordingley, Brampton would once again face Peterborough,
and once again Peterborough held home floor advantage.
This time it didn't seem to matter as the Excelsior's
jumped out to a 3-1 series lead. Peterborough won
their next home game, and Brampton seemed to have
them on the ropes in game 6, but the Lakers would
not be denied and came back to force game 7 and
walked away with a 2nd Ontario Championship, although
they lost the Mann Cup back to Victoria.
The past two years have seen the
new rivalry grow into a full on war at times. The
two teams now seem to enter each season vying for
the advantage, but Peterborough has come out on
top both times in 6 games despite where the game
is played. Last season saw the Excelsiors inches
away from securing a 3-1 series lead when a shot
in sudden-death double overtime hit the pipe and
Peterborough went on to tie and eventually win the
series. Peterborough went on to win the Mann Cup
both years and are still hungry for another.
The 2008 Brampton Excelsiors have
added familiar faces from the past in Dan Dawson,
Colin Doyle, and Bruce Codd to help them push their
way past the Peterborough roadblock. These additions
to the core of the team that has had so much success
over the past decade paid off in a first place finish
during the regular season and another Harry Lumley
award for the Mattamy Homes sponsored duo of Anthony
Cosmo and Brandon Miller (who share a lot of the
credit with the Brampton defense).
Brampton faced Peterborough 3 times
during the course of the regular season, and never
lost (2-0-1). These two behemoths of the lacrosse
world will once again collide in late August, and
Brampton is hoping to end the Lakers run as kings
of the East and get the Excelsior name back on the
Mann Cup where it belongs…
Game 1 kicks off Thursday night
at the Powerade Centre at 8:00. Tickets can be purchased
at the door or at the Powerade guest services desk
Monday to Thursday between the hours of 9:00-7:00.
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