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Sir Donald Mann’s beautiful trophy was all shined up and we were just sixty minutes, or we thought, from crowing the 2009 Mann Cup Champion. 3300 fans packed into Queens Park Arena and tickets were a hot commodity as there were people on Craigslist looking for tickets and willing to pay upwards of $50 for their chance to be a part history. It was heartbreak for the Bellies and jubilation for the Excelsiors. For the fourth time in the series we went to overtime and for the fourth time, the eastern champs were able to pull through and claim their second straight Mann Cup title. I need a drink!

As the game got underway there was no room for error, as it was evident that the refs were going to let the players decide the game and decide it they did. But in a game seven let alone a Mann Cup series, there is a winner and an unfortunate loser, and it was a shame the way it had to end.

Blaine Manning opened the scoring for the visitors with a rope to the far top corner past Tyler Richards to get the action started.  A very tight middle part of the first period saw both teams pick up the defensive efforts as we saw numerous thirty second shot clock violations on either side of the ball. Jordan Hall got the home squad on the board with a shorthanded goal, as he was left all alone and out waited Anthony Cosmo in net for Brampton. Then Ilija Gajic, who has carried the New West team on his shoulders all year long, ripped a top corner stinger to give his team a one goal lead heading into the break. There were three penalties called in the period, all roughing minors but it was a very clean and hard fought twenty minutes.

If the first was a tough defensive period, the second was an all attack. Junior A call-up Kevin Crowley continued to impress, as he extended the home side’s lead to 3-1, cutting through the middle and threw a wicked pump fake on Cosmo before firing into the empty net. Then the teams would trade goals and when Crowley scored on a twister from the high slot, the lead was 5-2 and all the momentum was in favor of the red and white. Shawn Williams would pull Brampton within two before the break working the pick and roll to perfection with Colin Doyle and at the break the Bellies were up 5-3 and twenty minutes away from lifting the cup.

The tension in the arena was electric and just three minutes into the third, Gajic sent the fans in hysteria with a screen shot that pinged off one pipe then the other before resting in the netting behind Cosmo; who never saw it.   Manning would repeat his efforts of the opening goal to cut the lead back to two but when veteran Chris Gill tallied a one timer through the five hole of Cosmo, the score was 7-4 with just over nine minutes reaming.

It couldn’t happen again could it? Could the Excelsiors come back and force overtime? Well in my mind, I thought New West was due and that this was their time.  Just as soon as that thought entered my mind, Brodie Merrill went down on a transition breakaway and finally solved Richards by throwing a fake and scoring to set the rally in motion. Dan Dawson, who returned for game 6 after calling in a few favors at his new fire department, orchestrated a text book pick and roll and made the score 7-6 setting up a dramatic final eight minutes. There hadn’t been a penalty since first period and with less than two minutes left, 2009 defensive player of the year Ian Hawksbee was tagged with a holding penalty, giving the Excels the rest of the game on the man advantage and a chance to tie it up.

As they have done all series long, the Bellies short man unit stymied the powerful Excels power play. With under a minute to play everyone was standing and the countdown was on. Jordan Hall got possession of the ball behind his net, raced across the time line and through pure hustle, was able to draw a holding penalty on Sandy Chapman, setting up four on four lacrosse with thirty seconds remaining.  Now this is where as a sports fan you hate to see what happened. Wearing his heart on his sleeve, Gajic stepped onto the floor and wanting the ball in his stick in the waning seconds stared the Brampton double team dead in the eyes. Smartly, he headed back to this own zone to kill the clock using his foot speed he was able to get around one man and raced up the boards and the place was going nuts. Merrill was able to catch up to him, knock him to the ground right in front of the Bellies bench turning the ball over. Bill Greer picked up the loose ball and looked to go to the net. At this point there were no offensive players on the floor for Brampton and with time winding down Greer decided to push the situation and go to goal. Drawing the defender he found the unlikeliest of heroes, Mike Carnegie who put everything he had into a shot the rippled the mesh being Richards break the hearts of the Bellies bench and their loyal fans.

Once again we were headed for overtime where New West had yet to win. Even at this point with everything working against them, I still felt that this was the Bellies year. That was until Doyle scored the game winner shorthanded as he was able to break free from his defender and put the ball past his Washington Stealth teammate Richards.  The positive for the home squad was that there were still nine minutes left on the big board and a roster full of talented ballers capable of tying the game. They pushed and pushed, time and time again but the clock continued to tick down and they were forced to start pulling Richards for the extra attacker. Finally with under a minute to play, Merrill was able to scoop up a loose ball and race down the floor to deposit and empty netter and send the Brampton bench into pandemonium.

I don’t think I have ever witnessed a series that has seen such highs and lows in so many games. No game was decided by more than three goals, no team ever lead by more than three goals and every game was epic until the final whistle. Game seven lived up to the hype and added to the memories of one of, if not THE greatest Mann Cup series EVER!

Game MVP’s were Ilija Gajic (2-2) and Dan Dawson (2-2), both were my pick also. The 50/50 was $2700 and the official attendance was 3307.

The Bellies have nothing to be ashamed of as they were the class of the west and gave the defending champs all they could handle. Their fans are proud of them, the families are proud of them, the WLA is proud of them and so am I. They weren’t given much a chance by a lot of people and they proved everyone wrong and that through great drafting and commitment to a cause they could compete with the best of the best.

Hats off the defending champs! They battled through the loss of some key players in the middle of the series, kept their heads up, kept with their game plan and were able to win four games all in overtime. Congrats has to go to Head Coach Troy Cordingly who just capped off a fantastic year of lacrosse leading his teams to the NLL title and the Mann Cup in the same year. Not sure that has ever been done. Also to guys winning their first ever title, it will be something they will never forget. It will be especially meaningful for Paddy Campbell and Mike Kelly award winner (series MVP) Shawn Williams who led the series in scoring with 29 points, both of whom have been chasing the Mann for quite some time.

The 100^th playing of the Mann Cup will forever go down as one of the best every witnessed and is an instant classic. For all that were in attendance and watched online I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did cause even now, two hours after the champagne popped, I’m stilling trying to grasp what I just witnessed.

Thank you to the Brampton Excelsiors and New Westminster Salmonbellies for being class acts for seven games and continuing to prove why the fastest game on two feet is the greatest game around!

Jenner is a two-time Mann Cup champion with six years of NLL experience. Email him at ted.jenner@nllinsider.com also follow the Coquitlam Jr. A Adanacs and the Intermediate A Adanacs live, as Teddy brings you color commentary with Brad Challoner for the Jr's and play by play with Brody Allen for the Intermediates -- http://www.junioradanacs.com/multimedia.php

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