HAGERSVILLE— St. Catharines Shockwave forward Layne Smith has simply dominated the competition.
Following up his four goal, six- point debut which came on Saturday January 4th in a 16-6 road win against the Toronto Monarchs, Smith a week later provided some more magic.
Getting into an early groove Smith entertained the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena crowd when on Sunday, January 12th he had an eight- goal performance and nine total points in what was a 14-11 loss against the Peterborough Timbermen.
“I think just taking my opportunities when I see them helped,” Smith said. “I had the hot stick early and my teammates just kept feeding me the ball.” When asked if that was his first eight goal performance Smith responded, “I’ve scored eight goals twice back in 2017 with the Rebels.”
Making an early statement Smith had two first period goals while Cody Menzie added one as the defending ALL champions Shockwave took a 3-2 lead into the second period.
Continuing to fill the net, St. Catharines started the second with consecutive goals from Gates Abrams with an assist to Smith followed less than a minute later by Smith completing the hattrick.
“I think we moved the ball well and had great offensive sets,” Smith said. “We obviously have a target on our backs as defending champs.”
With a little over five minutes remaining in the second, Smith connected again with his fourth to give the Shockwave what would be a temporary 6-4 lead.
Going on a run, Peterborough managed
to tie things up at six heading to the third where in less than a two- minute span they connected once again for consecutive goals in taking their first lead.
“They work hard, not to say they’re not good but we were missing some key guys due to injuries and other commitments,” Smith said about Peterborough. “I think we would have come out on top.”
Smith scored his fifth goal in making it a one goal game but the Shockwave couldn’t build off that momentum as Peterborough answered with consecutive goals which saw them firmly in the drivers’ seat holding a 10-7 lead with one more quarter remaining.
“I think once we start clicking and get our lineup concrete, we will be okay,” Smith said.
Refusing to slow down, Smith’s scoring exploits picked up steam in the fourth as he scored three more goals but that along with a goal from Chaunce Hill wasn’t quite enough as the Shockwave ended up falling short in weekend play.
