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Fans who took in the 2009 Canadian Lacrosse Association (CLA) Mann Cup national championships were treated to some world-class lacrosse, and one of the very best Mann Cup series in the 100 years of the championship’s existence.

The deciding game capped an unbelievable series of lacrosse. In Game 7, Brampton came from behind to win 9-7 in OT.

New West’s Chris Gill put the ‘Bellies up by a score of 7-4 with half a period to play and it looked as though the home-team was going to hoist. But one minute after Gill’s goal, Brampton’s Brodie Merrill scored in transition. Then Dan Dawson twenty seconds later scored to trim the lead to 7-6 with eight minutes to play. The score stayed that way for the next 7:29 with Brampton’s Anthony Cosmo and New West’s Tyler Richards playing well in net.

Then with 31 ticks left and the ‘Bellies in possession, New West gave the ball to their young star Ilija Gajic to run out the clock. He tried to escape a double-team by running into his own end, turned and then headed up the boards but was angled off and dropped by star Brodie Merrill. Brampton’s Mike Carnegie then scored with just 16 seconds left to send the Best-of-7 series into an improbable OT – the fifth OT frame of the series.

“I’m going to go on record and say that’s the craziest game I’ve been apart of,” said Brampton’s Dan Dawson. “You talk about never stop believing; Our room never stopped believing, our veteran leadership showed up tonight and we road our goalie, he shut the door in the third period and over-time. It was just unbelievable to get a win tonight.”

“We had no egos in our dressing room,” added Dawson, the ‘09 NLL MVP who now has won four Mann Cups. “You can be a good team and win the Mann Cup but we solidified ourselves as a great team by winning on the road… We won one on the road and that’s something very special to our dressing room.”

“I was totally elated and shocked when Mike Carnegie scored that goal,” added Colin Doyle, who led the series in goals with 12, one better than Gajic. “It was a testament to the character in this dressing room.”

“I’m having trouble giving you a run-down here, but it was obviously the biggest goal of my life,” added defender Mike Carnegie. “I passed to Billy (Greer) and Billy gave me the ball back and a lucky shot I’d call it, top corner.”

“It’s the toughest series I’ve ever been apart of,” said Josh Sanderson who now has three Mann Cups. “Great group of guys here, I love everyone of them. We never quit and it showed in how we won the last two games.”

“Obviously, I haven’t seen all of the Mann Cups, but this could be the best Mann Cup in history,” said Sanderson, who with 20 points in the series moved into fifth-place all-time in Mann Cup scoring. “Unbelievable. New West has an awesome team over there, we just stuck with it.”

Less than a minute into OT, Dawson floated a pass to the clutch Colin Doyle who finished on the run. That mark put Doyle into the Top 10 of all-time Mann Cup scorers and was the only goal of the 10 minute over-time frame until Merrill added an empty-netter in the final minute.

“There’s no words,” said Shawn Williams, who was named the Series MVP with a series’ leading 29 points. “Obviously, it’s total elation… It was a roller coaster of a series. Four over-times, four over-time wins. Unbelievable.”

“They’re a great team. We’re a great team. It was an unbelievable series… It was great lacrosse and it was great to be a part of.”

“You can’t say enough about both teams and the players on both teams, they just laid it on the line,” stated Excelsiors’ coach Troy Cordingley.

The two teams played seven games in nine nights. New West repped the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) and Brampton represented the Eastern Major Series League (MSL).

Games were up-and-down, exciting fast-paced action featuring some of the sport’s best players. And every game was close, as the five OT frames would suggest, with several lead changes and dramatic finishes.

“Hats go off to the New West organization and their fans for treating us with class,” added Dawson.

“Disappointing. A few seconds left and we couldn’t keep the ball,” said New West coach Bob Salt. “It’s an experience of a life-time. We should have never lost it.”

“We played well against a very good team,” added Salt. When asked to talk about the overall year, Salt added: “It was a terrific season. We only lost four over-time games, wow… I’m very proud. New Westminster should be proud.”

“I can’t wrap my head around what just happened,” added New West captain Chris Gill. “We had it a few games, but they’re relentless and they don’t give up… We were so close.”

“I think we were part of one of the most exciting Mann Cup series… 31 seconds from hoisting the Cup and then it felt like it had just been stolen right out of our hands.”

“We got one more bounce than they did to be quite honest,” offered coach Troy Cordingley. “Two evenly matched teams, yeah we’ll take it… I thought this series was unbelievable lacrosse and it should put lacrosse on the map.”

“This one was the hardest one to win,” said Cordingley, who has won four Mann Cups as a player and two as a coach. “It was just remarkable. A lot of people have said, and I agree, this is probably the best Mann Cup ever.”

An All-America at Simon Fraser and a decorated Jr. A player for Coquitlam, Kojima began covering lacrosse in 2003 and started working for Inside Lacrosse in 2007. Email him at steve.kojima@nllinsider.com or go to www.laxfuj.com.

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