August 16, 2018
Ontario Goes Undefeated to Claim Bantam Box Lacrosse Nationals
Canadian Lacrosse Association – SASKATOON, SK – Ontario (7-0) capped off an undefeated tournament with a 7-5 win over British Columbia (5-2) in last night’s gold medal game to capture the 2018 CLA Bantam Box Lacrosse National Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Ontario advanced to the championship final with a 9-3 semi-final win over First Nations, whereas B.C. withstood a third period comeback from Manitoba to earn a 5-4 victory in the other semi-final game.
The gold medal game was evenly matched, tied at 4-4 after two periods. However, after Koen Block opened the third period scoring for B.C., Ontario went on a 3-0 run with goals from Gavin Howard, Cameron Sanderson and Riley Simpson to put the game out of reach.
Simpson (2g, 1a) and Sanderson (2g, 1a) were the leading scorers for Ontario, while Josh MacDonald (2g, 0a), Jonathan Grywacheski (0g, 2a) and Phillip Marin (1g, 1a) led the way for B.C.
The remaining medal games were equally as exciting and closely contested.
First Nations built an early 2-0 first period lead and held on to defeat Manitoba 7-5 to win the bronze medal, redemption after losing to them by a score of 6-3 in the round-robin. Shakorennawis Doxtador-Swamp (3g, 1a) and Mitchell VanEvery (1g, 2a) paced the First Nations offense, while Will Angus scored a hat-trick for Manitoba in the losing effort.
Ty Wheatley scored two unanswered goals in the third period to help Nova Scotia earn a narrow 4-3 victory over Saskatchewan to claim the B Division gold medal. Shamus Locke led Nova Scotia in scoring with three assists, while teammate Ashton Brown stood tall between the pipes to help secure the win.
Ontario’s Cameron Sanderson led the tournament with 26 points on 14 goals and 12 assists, while B.C.’s Jaxon Smart finished in second in scoring with 7 goals and 9 assists for 16 points.
Goaltenders Jack Kask of B.C. and Zachary Richards of Ontario finished the tournament with four wins apiece, while Ontario’s Evan Constantopoulos had a 3-0 record to go along with one shutout and a 1.99 goals against average mark.
For more information on the event, including schedules, statistics and box scores from each game, visit http://bantamnationals.pointstreaksites.com/view/bantamnationals.
Media
Alain Brouillette
Communications and Marketing Coordinator
Canadian Lacrosse Association
Phone: 613-260-2028 x302
Email: alain@lacrosse.ca