For the good folks with the Greater Sudbury Lacrosse Association, this past weekend marks a watershed, of sorts, for the 2009 campaign. The conclusion of the house league season, culminating with a week-long in-house playoff tournament and a Sunday afternoon chocked full of exciting finals, gives way to the second half of the rep lacrosse campaign.
Coniston Arena provided the venue and the atmosphere was anything but recreational, as the intensity level provided little doubt that these youngsters wanted to win. In novice action, Felix Cote proved to be the difference, scoring his team's final three goals in a see-saw battle as Team F slipped past Team B, 6-4.
(Yes, it has already been mentioned to league officials to seek out slightly more original team names for the 2010 season, but for this summer, it's an alphabet soup of lacrosse squads that take to the floor.)
Cote finished with four goals in the game, with teammate Anthony Dombek rounding out the scoring for the winners with a pair of markers. Ethan Lavallee replied with two-goals in a losing cause, with Bryceton Lalonde and Ryder Thususka adding singles.
An offensive outburst almost always awaits at the tyke level, and this year's championship encounter was no exception. Jamie Wahamaa netted seven goals, leading Team D to an 8-5 victory over Team F.
Nolan Peltier added the remaining goal for D, while Riley Bridge and Owen Coles answered with two goals apiece, with Ethan Rogers chipping in with one for F. Fatigue surely played a role in the loss, as Team F was playing its third contest of the day, having worked its way up through the bottom half of the double-knockout format with back-to-back wins in the morning.
The closest of the finals came in the peewee group as Team H received goals from Cameron Lizotte and Sebastien Desormeaux just 40 seconds apart in the final minute of the second period, lifting H past Team A, 4-3.
Riley Adams and Max Sheppard rounded out the scoring for the gold-medal winners with Tristan Simeoni, David Moorehouse and Bo Peltier replying in a losing cause. The bantams closed the curtain on Championship Sunday, albeit in a somewhat anti-climatic manner, as Nick Marion registered a hat trick, propelling Team A past Team D, 7-2.
Matt Marion, Joel Charlebois, Dean Hancock and Michael Muzyka also hit the score sheet for A, while Mathew Kuzenko and Noah Burke-Elgee found the back of the net for D.
Although the Rockhound rep teams, from novice right through to intermediate, will now ramp up in earnest in preparation for the provincial playdowns in August, the bulk of the these teams have already got their feet wet in tournament action in May and June.
Among those, the tyke all-stars returned from Huntsville earlier this month with gold medals in tow, thumping the Newmarket Redbirds 11-5 in the final. Coaches Gary Petrin and Chris Sheehan helped guide the Rockhounds to wins over the Clarington Gaels (8-5) and Barrie Tornadoes (10-8) in the team's first two games, as a number of the local kids got exposure to competitive tournament action for the very first time.
Constantly looking for ways in which to grow their sport, GSLA officials also introduced a high school field lacrosse friendship mini-tournament earlier this spring, with a handful of secondary students gaining exposure to a variation of the sport that remains extremely popular south of the border.
The lacrosse crew was not the only local group keeping busy on the first gorgeous weather weekend of the year. The Sudbury Minor Baseball Association hosted its annual Father's Day Tournament, with teams opting to forego the originally scheduled double-knockout format in order to avoid Sunday afternoon double-header action in 30 plus degree temperatures.
The rookie final found Hurley Ventilation avenging a 9-3 round robin loss to John Smith Realty, turning the tables in the championship encounter to post a 16-12 victory. A somewhat similar story for the Atlas Copco Mosquito squad, who fell 9-7 to Irrigation North, before winning four straight to claim gold.
Atlas out-clubbed the Sudbury Star 17-6, although the coaches maintained it was the defense, not the offense, that proved to be the difference.
A diving catch by center fielder Ryan Barton could easily have been dubbed the "TSN Turning Point" while three innings of solid pitching from Brett Mourot - allowing just one run against - helped keep the Star bats at bay.
Auto Depot scored five runs in the opening inning, jumping out to an early lead before the Sudbury Star rallied in the peewee grand finale. Dan Lamoureux pitched the final three innings to earn the win, helping his cause with a pair of RBI doubles as the Star clipped Auto Depot, 13-11.
Yet another come from behind victory, this time with the bantams, as Ryan Anderson, Trent Sizer, Pat Vincent and Alex Leduc all come around to score in the bottom of the sixth inning, lifting Toppers Pizza past Simon's Gallery, 14-12.
Randy Pascal is the voice of Eastlink Sports and the founder of SudburySports.com.
