NLL Insider

They had to do it in the closest game they’ve played yet at this Minto Cup tournament, but last night the Orangeville Northmen earned the spot in the finals that was expected of them with a 7-5 win over the Calgary Mountaineers.

“Full credit for the effort they put out there,” said Northmen head coach Matt Sawyer. “That was the best test we’ve had since we’ve been out here. Their goalie (Drew Dickie) was unbelievable. He stood on his head.”

The Mountaineers struck first, with Tyler Farmer finding a way past Nick Rose just 17 seconds in. The Northmen teed up three in a row but Farmer would strike again before the curtain came down on the first period to put the Mountaineers within one as they headed into the second. This time it would be Jeff Ivey scoring not even 30 seconds in to widen the Northmen lead until Farmer once again showed up to to haunt the Orangeville defense and score his third of the game to pull the Mountaineers back within one. Stephen Keogh beat Dickie—Calgary’s player of the game—to put the Northmen up 5-3 at 6:51. That would be the last time either team gained a goal in the second period, as Rose, Dickie and their defensive units took control of the game.

“From what I’ve seen over the tournament Orangeville has a big run and gun aspect to their offense,” said Calgary captain Tyler Pridham. “They have the studs up front who can put the ball in the net but it seemed to me they had less chances against us because we ran the floor with them.”

The game remained a defensive and goaltending clinic until over halfway through the third when Orangeville’s Matt McLeod scored his first goal of the game. Five minutes later he followed that up with his second, giving the Northmen a 7-3 advantage—the biggest lead they held all night over the Mountaineers. Not even one minute later, someone other than Tyler Farmer scored for the Mounties, with Jason Crook snapping one past Rose. One minute after that, Kiel Donahue took advantage of a powerplay to score the final goal of the game, the 7-5 score leaving the Orangeville Northmen cruising to the finals while tonight the Mountaineers will take on the Victoria Shamrocks in the semi-final.

“All our practices are geared toward Orangeville, and if we play that way, we’ll beat Calgary,” said Victoria head coach Danny Green.

Last time the two teams met the Shamrocks earned a 9-6 victory, but not before the host team stunned more than a few people with their efforts.

“It’s a huge mental aspect,” said Pridham. “Now we have a bit of an advantage because we have come up against both teams and we know we can play with them and contend for a W.”

Game time is 7:30 PM MST at the Max Bell Arena.

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