Justin Ivey, Co-Editor
Lacrosse is Awesome©
The Oshawa Firewolves (2-4) donned green jerseys in recognition of the Oshawa Green Gaels as they hosted the Halifax Thunderbirds (3-3) Saturday night at Tribute Communities Centre. The Oshawa offense has struggled in their four-game losing streak, but Saturday night Tye Kurtz (7G, 3A) led the young group to a season high 16 goals making it the second week in a row the team has scored in the double digits. The Thunderbirds, led by Randy Staats (3G, 3A) were kept from sweeping the two-game season series with the Firewolves after winning the first handily 11-2. Penalties were common with both teams combing for 150 minutes in the box and both teams scored six man-up goals, Oshawa with 11 chances and Halifax with nine. Oshawa goalie Doug Jameison (5GA, 39SV) became the 20th in NLL history to collect 4,000 career saves in the victory. Warren Hill (8GA, 15SV) started in net for Halifax but was replaced by Drew Hutchinson (8GA, 26SV) who took the loss. Final Score: Halifax Thunderbirds – 9, Oshawa Firewolves – 16.
An early slashing call on the Firewolves opened the door for Staats to score the game’s first goal. His power play strike 3:35 into play was assisted by Cody Jamieson (1A). For the rest of the quarter though, it was all Oshawa. Ethan Walker (3G, 6A) tied the game just over a minute later, and the defense stood tall until Patrick Kaschalk (1G, 1A) scored unassisted in transition nearly six minutes later. The last five minutes of the quarter belonged to the star of the evening, Kurtz. On his birthday, he started the game with a hat trick before the first quarter ended. The third goal was a beautiful dive and dump from behind the net on a crisp pass from Alex Simmons (2G, 7A). At the end of the first quarter, Oshawa led Halifax 5-1.
Jackson Nishimura (1G) extended the Oshawa goal streak to six with a transition goal assisted by Joel Coyle (1A) almost four minutes into the second quarter. Grasping for offense, Halifax finally found the net when Clarke Petterson (2G, 2A) scored on another power play. Unfortunately for them the Firewolves bunkered down even more on defense and held them scoreless for the rest of the half while the offense started another strong run. Kurtz scored his fourth with 8:01 remaining, and then soccer assisted Simmons on his first goal of the game. In a wild sequence, Kurtz lost his stick and followed the ball along the back boards. He then kicked the ball out to the crease area where Simmons scooped ran and scored. Despite the kick, he was not credited with an assist. Two powerplay strikes followed, the first from Taggart Clark (2G) and the second from Walker. With 4:33 left in the first half, Oshawa now led 10-2. Kurtz scored his fifth of the first half with 58 seconds left to close out the second quarter. At the half, Oshawa led Halifax 11-2.
Jake Withers was handed a four-minute slashing penalty in the last minute of the half, and the extended power play allowed Oshawa to score two quick goals to start the third quarter. Simmons struck first, 57 seconds in and Clark followed, scoring with just a couple seconds left with the advantage. Down 13-2, Halifax finally found a few scoring opportunities and swung the tide for the remainder of the quarter. Dawson Theede (2G, 2A) scored the third Halifax powerplay goal on the evening, and Petterson scored with eight minutes left to make it two in a row. Kurtz scored his sock trick goal, the sixth of this career, unassisted on a man advantage with 6:22, making the score 14-4 before Christian Watts (1G) cut the lead down to nine with 5:35 left. Neither team would give up another goal until fourth. At the end of the third quarter, Oshawa led Halifax 14-5.
Kurtz opened the scoring in the fourth quarter putting the Firewolves ahead double digits with his seventh goal of the game, the second time he has reached the mark in his career. Scoring took a pause before the penalties started to flow in and allowed Halifax to score some goals with a man advantage. 124 penalty minutes were doled out in the quarter as frustrations boiled over. Staats scored two goals sandwiched around another from Theede and with 4:32 remaining Oshawa now led by seven. Walker scored on an Oshawa power play with 3:37 left, and Ryan Terefenko () got Halifax the last goal of the game, scoring with two seconds left. Final Score: Halifax Thunderbirds – 9, Oshawa Firewolves – 16.
Up Next:
The Oshawa Firewolves (2-4) travel to play the Colorado Mammoth on Saturday, January 24 at 9:00 PM EST.
The Halifax Thunderbirds (3-3) have a week off before hosting the Georgia Swarm on Saturday, January 31 at 6:00 PM EST.