NLL Insider

The Ontario Jr. B lacrosse powerhouses were out in full force in the quarter finals as every single Eastern winner swept their series in three, and in the West only Six Nations and Oakville will play the full five as the Rebels host the Buzz in Six Nations tomorrow night at 8:00 for the right to face Welland in the semi-finals. A look at the re-seedings and semi-final match-ups, after the jump.

IN THE WEST

ELORA MOHAWKS (1) vs. OWEN SOUND NORTH STARS (4)

How they got here: Owen Sound topped the Windsor AKO Fratmen three games to one, while Elora wiped out the St. Catharines Spartans 3-1
Regular season series: Elora two games to one

No rest for the underdogs as Owen Sound, formerly the eighth seed, are still seeded at the bottom of the division and will once again have to battle the team in the top spot. While an 8th place team knocking out a 1st is always an interesting story, Owen Sound’s dismantling of Windsor wasn’t the surprise their seedings would lead you to believe it was, since Windsor spent the summer benefiting from sharing a division with London, Wallaceburg, and Sarnia — all sub .500 teams — while the North Stars took the majority of their knocks against Elora, Guelph and Orangeville.

For the main reason the North Stars have caught fire, look no further than Robbie Hellyer whose 17 points in four games has him sitting fifth in playoff scoring. Also helping the team is their need for speed, with both the fast break and reverse transition looking deadly. Two game-winning goals have come from defenders Matt Reid and Hayden Smith. Goaltender Tom Watkins has also looked sharp.

As for Elora, what we’ve seen from them in the playoffs is what we’ve seen from them all year. With their offense assaulting opposition goaltenders from every angle, the big four right now are Brady Heseltine, Kyle Goss and his two game-winners, Justin Gibson and Jesse Booker, who has propelled himself from fifth in team scoring in the regular season to second in postseason. Also expect to see some increased firepower coming courtesy of Mark Pfohl now that he is back in the line-up. We’ll see how this fleet-footed Owen Sound D matches up against the Elora O that may as well be the defintion of well-rounded. No word yet on second round scheduling but we’ll keep you updated as this is bound to be a good one.

WELLAND WARLORDS vs. TBD

How they got here: Welland took out Guelph three games to one, including a double OT winner in game three
Regular season series: Six Nations and Oakville each beat Welland twice

Not even sure yet where Welland will be seeded. Should Six Nations win tomorrow, they will grab the second seed and Welland the third. In the event of an Oakville win, Welland will be pushed to second and Oakville to third.

Especially compared to what went down in the East, the scores of the Welland-Guelph series were seriously conservative, with the highest number of goals either team scored being Guelph’s eight in game two. All eyes should be on goaltender Danko Connor who has put up an itty bitty GAA of 3.94 through a league-leading 274 playoff minutes. While he’s holding down his end of the floor, Josh Eldridge, Jordy Daradick, Tyler Tanguay and Kevin Floris are all topping ten points on offense. Though their special teams served them well in the first round with 11 of their 23 goals coming with a man up, Welland may need to reach a bit further into their bag of tricks as both Six Nations and Oakville have kept a tight lid on time spent shorthanded.

IN THE EAST

CLARINGTON GREEN GAELS (1) vs. MIMICO MOUNTAINEERS (4)

How they got here: Clarington swept the Nepean Knights, Mimico swept the Gloucester Griffins
Regular season series: They met once, a 17-5 Green Gaels win

There are just so few things you can really count on in life that on some lazy, cynical level, the double-digit smackdowns from the Gaels are almost comforting. Unless you’re Mimico, I guess, and then you probably don’t want to be reminded that the smallest margin in their quarter final series was 17-3. But Zach Palmer did what Zach Palmer does, racking up 21 points, a number bested on the Green Gaels only by Shayne Jackson and his 23. And goaltenders Zack Higgins and Matt Chamois allowed a combined eight goals in the entire series, a number that the average goaltender would be happy about holding a team to in just one game.

If you want to go throwing around words like ‘foregone conclusion’ about this series you go ahead, but you might want to take that up with Brendan Muise and his 22 points YES 22. Go ahead, load him down with pessimistic predictions, he’s already carrying an entire team so it’s not like he’ll notice. The Green Gaels may be the Godzilla of Ontario Jr. B 2009, but could Muise be their Matthew Broderick? Who knows. Not me I can’t really remember that movie very well. Also watch for Tyler Campbell and Matt Barry on transition while Tyler Patterson does the dirty work.

HALTON HILLS BULLDOGS (2) vs. NEWMARKET SAINTS (3)

How they got here: Halton Hills swept the Markham Ironheads while the very classy Newmarket saints took out the Cornwall Celtics in three games
Regular season series: Halton Hills topped Newmarket 8-5 in mid-June

While the battle for the Jr. B playing rights of Jay Card rages on — Halton Hills has one last appeal left which should be given a decision this week — the Bulldogs that have been there all along have been steadily gaining momentum, with Pat Saunders and his 18 points and two game-winning goals leading the charge along with Kody Lyons on T and pure D beast Nik Matwijszyn. With their last win coming with a 12 point margin, this is a team that probably isn’t too happy about the few day layover between rounds.

Not exactly the scores many were expecting to see from the Newmarket-Cornwall series, as the Saints won it 7-2, 4-1, and 7-5 — not quite the kinds of numbers that are going to cut it against the Halton Hills Bulldogs unless maybe the Saints have two of the top three goaltenders in GAA. Oh. Even so, don’t expect forward Patrick Lee to stay quiet much longer. As evidenced by the one goal he’s scored all postseason coming as a game-winner, when it needs to get done, he’ll do it. And against the Bulldogs, it’s going to need to get done.

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