Arrows Express still undefeated

SIX NATIONS — It was a very important game for both the Brampton Excelsiors and the Six Nations Arrows Express Saturday night at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.

The Arrows went into the game with a perfect 12-0 season on the line against the 11 and 3 Excelsiors, who are in second place behind the Arrows. Brampton has played two more games than the Arrows to date.

According to Arrows goaltender Don Alton, the Arrows wanted to leave a message with second place Brampton on Sunday night. That mission was accomplished with an 11-4 win at the ILA. But the game really wasn’t as one sided as the score might indicate. Alton was on top of his game, after an unusually porous the first period.

“I decided to change my game up a little,” said Alton after the win. “I was kinda sticking with the reaction style, but I have to respect their outside shots and the rest of their offense so I had to change my game a bit and it really worked so I stuck with it the rest of the game. It took me a little while to get in — the first period was a little shaky for me and I thought I let in a couple of soft ones.”

Alton is playing his last year of Jr. and will likely get an NLL invitation judging by his Jr. record and particularly his 26 wins and 1 loss record with the Arrows Express over the past three seasons. He has been in tandem with Doug Jamieson, who is 6-0 this season, sharing the Arrows netminding duties with Alton.

Sunday night didn’t start out well for the Excelsiors who fell behind 2-0 with goals by Jordan Durston and Quinn Powless, but Brampton’s Jeff Teat evened the score with two quick ones scored at 8:18 and 9:45 respectively.

Trevor Stacey pulled the Arrows into a 3-2 lead, but Brampton’s Zach Herreweyers evened the score at 3-3 before the period ended. Brampton had some solid goal scoring chances early in the second, but by then, Alton had found his stride and frustrated several good scoring chances.

Stacey put the Arrows in the 4-3 lead at 7:02 of the second period, and the Arrows took over the game from there. Powless, scored the highlight reel goal of the game at 10:45 when he took a hard pass while standing on the edge of the Brampton crease, screening the goalie with his back to the goal. Without turning or looking, he took the pass and in one motion fired over his shoulder, which fooled Quintan Martin in the Brampton net for the 5-3 goal.

Excelsiors’ Shane MacDonald beat Alton for the last time of the evening at 10:38 of the second but a minute later, the Arrows were back on track with Austin Staats’ 6-4 goal from Leo Stourus and Alton’s down-floor transition pass. Anthony Patterson and Josh Johnson end the second period with the Arrows in charge, 8-4.

Brampton’s Matthew Bennett let his frustration boil over with a vicious slash to Josh Johnson’s mid-section, which toppled him like a tree, and resulted in a 5-minute major for slashing.

The Arrows remained disciplined and did not respond in like fashion. Instead they got back to work. Ian Martin made it 10-4, and set up Powless and Durston, all with Bennett watching from the penalty box, for the 11-4 final score.

Friday night in Mississauga, the Arrows took down the Tomahawks 14-3 with Doug Jamieson and young AP goalie Briley Miller sharing the netminding duties.

Josh Johnson and Quinn Powless led the offense with 6 points each. Powless recorded 4 goals and 2 assists while Johnson scored 2 and assisted on 4. Austin Staats picked up 3 goals. It was 6-1 after the first period, 10-1 after two, and a 14-3 final score.

This week’s games include Wednesday, June 25th, when the Arrows visit the St. Catharines Athletics. Then, on Thursday night, they are home at the ILA when the third place Whitby Warriors are visiting, starting at 8 pm. The Burlington Chiefs will drop in on the Arrows, Sunday, March 29th at 7 pm.

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