NLL Insider

Since last we met at this site, the Major Series Lacrosse ended one season and started another. And although there was no real mystery coming down the stretch, the most interesting scenario to watch unfold was the battle for the No. 2 spot between Brampton and Six Nations. The Excelsiors wrapped that up rather neatly, winning their final 3 games of the regular season while the Chiefs dropped their final 2, giving the Excels that coveted first-round playoff bye. That set up No. 3 Six Nations for a first-round matchup with No. 6 Ajax-Pickering and in the other matchup, No. 4 Kitchener-Waterloo is playing No. 5 Brooklin. Peterborough and Brampton await the winners, so let’s check in on the playoff series that are underway along with other OLA news and notes.

First, the Brooklin vs. K-W series. Already 2 games into this series, the Redmen have a 2-0 lead thanks to victories of 9-7 and 7-6. It’s shaping up to be a defensive series and with Mike Poulin in K-W’s cage and Kurtis Wagar in the Brooklin crease, we wouldn’t really expect anything else. Still, the offense has got to come from somewhere and that’s where K-W is hurting the most.

In Game 1, the Kodiaks matched the Redmen goal for goal through 2 periods, but it was a 3-1 third period by Brooklin that sent K-W down. The lone Kodiaks goal came from Kasey Biernes, but even that was a power-play goal. That’s where the Kodiaks could have used Corey Small, who instead has missed the first two games because he was a late addition to Team Canada for the world field tournament in England. Small, K-W’s leading scorer in the regular season with 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists), scored a team-high 9 third-period goals this summer.

K-W responded with a better third period in Game 2, outscoring the Redmen 4-0 but it wasn’t enough to dig out of a 5-0 hole from the first period. So without Small on the floor, who among the Kodiaks has stepped up? No one, really. Andrew Potter, the team’s second-leading scorer this summer has just 2 goals and 1 assist in the 2 playoff games, and No. 3 scorer Mark Tining has just 2 goals. Ryan Learn scored 3 goals in Game 2, but had 0 in the opener.

Now that the field tournament is completed, perhaps the return of Small can rejuvinate the Kodiaks as they prepare for tonight’s Game 3 at home. The Redmen, meanwhile, are getting balanced scoring. Leading scorer Derek Hopcroft has been held to 1 goal and 3 assists, but No. 2 scorer Kevin Brownell has taken advantage to score 6, 3 in each game and No. 3 scorer Caleb Wiles has 2 goals and 4 assists.

MSL Award Nominations

Major Series Lacrosse announced nominations for its major awards for 2010. Check out the official nominations as provided by the league, and cast your vote for the awards. These polls aren’t affiliated with MSL and won’t officially count toward the awards, but who says we can’t have some fun voting, right?

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Loose balls: Six Nations opened its playoff series with an 8-6 win over the expansion Ajax-Pickering Rock. And that’s all we know about that game, since Poinstreak has no box score, but we do know that forward Craig Point scored 2 third-period goals. Game 2 is Wednesday night at A-P. Update: It’s not a complete box score, but you can find out who scored for Six Nations, plus view a pretty cool photo gallery of Game 1 here  … Colin Doyle surprised many by signing with Six Nations and he’s loving his role with the team. “There’s so much great history at Six Nations,” he told The Record. “The experience and guys have been great.” … Peterborough’s Shawn Evans is the 2010 MSL scoring champ, and he did it with style. The forward posted lines of 8, 9, 5, 5 and 6 for 33 points in his final 5 games. He finishes the season with 80 points (21-60). Brampton’s Josh Sanderson is second with 73 points (26-47). He had 24 points (7, 7, 5, 4, 1) in his final 5 games … The interesting thing about the scoring race is that if we include Cody Jamieson, who’s projected to be the No. 1 overall National Lacrosse League draft choice later this year for the Rochester Knighthawks, that means 4 of the top 5 MSL scorers for 2010 will be Knighthawks this winter. After Shawn Evans, Point finished third with 70 points (26-44), Scott Evans is fourth with 64 (32-32) and Jamieson is fifth with 62 (28-34) … Congratulations to referee Bill Fox, who was named recipient of the Allen G. Rae Builder Award from Sports Officials Canada. He’ll be honored formally at an event in Mississauga on Sept. 25 … Peterborough’s Mike Thompsons wins the goals-against average title for MSL goalies this summer with a league-best 7.65. His save percentage of 80% also was tops and he also was the only goalie i the 80s. Defending goalie champ Anthony Cosmo finished second with a 7.80 gaa. Cos went through a rough patch in June, losing 3 of 4 decisions and giving up 12 and 13 goals in 2 of those games. But he rebounded nicely with 3 consecutive wins down the stretch … Attention history buffs: Make some time for this great read by Don Barrie in the Peterborough Examiner. It’s about the challenges of Eastern teams, specifically Peterborough, playing out West.

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