Owen Sound scores four times on the powerplay to earn first MSL Classic win
For the first time since 1995, a team from Owen Sound entered into the Major Series Lacrosse win column.
Wednesday night at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre, John St. John had an eight-assist game to lead Owen Sound to a 10-9 win over the Six Nations Chiefs in Game 7 of the MSL Classic.
The last time Owen Sound reached the win column was on June 30, 1995. That’s 9533 days ago.
The Chiefs were coming off a 15-7 win over Cobourg the night before and entered the game with a 1-2 record. Owen Sound lost their previous game 19-10 to the Brooklin Lacrosse Club and were winless with an 0-3 record. The game provided end to end action with plenty of physical play along with some sweet goals including classic fast break lacrosse action.
The Chiefs opened the game scoring first at 1:39 when Kobe Whitcomb scored when the ball bounced around deep in the crease eluding goaltender Rylan Hartley. Owen Sound tied the game on a classic fast-break goal tucked in by St. John at the midway mark of the first quarter. The Chiefs went ahead on an outside shot by Kedoh Hill that found the back of the net at 8:18. Owen Sound tied the game once again on a great individual effort by Dallas Bridle as he danced the tip of the crease to slip the ball behind goaltender Dustin Hill. Liam Leclair put the Chiefs ahead with a fast break goal in the last minute of play giving his team a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the Chiefs open a two-goal lead with a short-handed marker by Vern Hill Jr. at 4:43. Just over a minute later, Owen Sound bounced back with two power-play goals within 30 seconds as Kyle Dawson picked up a loose ball rebound to make the score 4-3 at 5:47; followed up with a Jake McNabb blast that skipped into the net at 6:12. Owen Sound won the second quarter 3-2 resulting in a 5-5 tie at halftime.
Owen Sound took their first lead of the game at 4:32 of the third quarter when Brett Kloepher picked up a loose ball and hustled his way directly to the net and his bounce shot found the back of the net. However, at 9:11 Austin Staats tied the game with a sweet over the shoulder shot in front of a cluster of players. At the 9:11 mark of the quarter, while on the powerplay Bridle fired a shot giving Owen Sound a 7-6 lead. Just over a minute later, Brendan Bomberry tied the game 7-7 on a finely executed fast break. With both of the teams scoring twice, the third quarter ended 7-7.
The fourth quarter opened with Dawson scoring on the powerplay (his second goal of the game) at 0:34 of the period. Staats netted a short-handed marker with a superb individual second effort goal tying the game 8-8. At the 2:32 mark of the fourth quarter, Mike Fiegehen sliced his way to the middle of the front of the net to put Owen Sound ahead 9-8. Just over a minute later, Kedoh Hill tied the game with a slick marker from the tip of the crease. The game winning and final goal of the game came at 9:34 from the stick of Dawson as he notched a beauty of a backhand shot after having retrieved a loose all off a rebound save completing his hat trick for the night.
Chiefs’ goaltender Dustin Hill was solid in the pipes. However, Hartley was spectacular in net for Owen Sound picking up the win. It is noteworthy that Six Nations rang several shots off the iron of the Owen Sound net.
With the loss, the Chiefs fall to 1-3 in the MSL Classic, while Owen Sound picked up its first win and also have a record of 1-3.
Leading the scoring parade for Owen Sound were St. John with one goal and eight assists; McNabb and Bridle each with two goals and three assists and Dawson with 3 goals.
For the Chiefs, Staats (who had a significant presence during the game) collected two goals and two assists.
Next games in the 2021 Major Series Classic this week is Thursday, with the Cobourg Kodiaks playing the Oakville Rock at 8pm.
Reserve your tickets by CLICKING HERE. You can also watch all games online at JVI Video CHANNEL 1 and CHANNEL 2.
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