Last night was the 2012 home opening game for the Beaches Jr. A. There was lots of buzz and excitement around the Beach as the management, players and fans awaited May 13th to see the boys for the first time at Ted
Reeve Arena. The atmosphere was electric as about 350 people filled the stands and the arena was decked out in all new Beaches Jr. A decor. The boys had a slow start to the game going down two goals early but battled back with goals by Greg Davidson and Jordy Robertson to tie it at 2-2. St. Catharines regained their two goal lead to end the first period 4-2. The second period did not start well for the Beaches as St. Catharines stormed out of the gate scoring two unanswered goals to go up 6-2. But the boys kept on pressuring and mounted their own attack with Jackson Hulbert, Rob King, and Mike Triolo scoring to make it a 6-5 game at the end of the second period. Unfortunately, the third period belonged to St. Catharines. Jordy Robertson was able to score his second goal of the game shorthanded, but the Athletics scored four in the period to win the game 10-6. Although they were not victorious in the much anticipated opener, the boy’s received a great ovation from their amazing fans for their effort. The boys will take on the Warrior’s tomorrow in Whitby as they look to grab their first win of the season.

The boys travelled to Orangeville to play the Northmen for the first game of the 2012 season. The atmosphere on the bus and in the arena was intense as everyone knew what the game represented. Beaches Jr. A Head Coach, Bruce Codd and General Manager, Brodie Merrill are both Orangeville Northmen alumni and the entire team wanted to play their best for their coach and GM. The boys came out flying. The first period saw Jordan Robertson score the first goal of the Beaches season. Shortly after ,Gareth Gibson scored to give Beaches a 2-1 lead followed by a second goal by Robertson. Robbie Hunter then scored to make it 4-2 at the end of the first. In the second period, the Northmen scored two unanswered goals to tie the game at 4 but the deadlock was broken by Mike Triolo to give the Beaches a 5-4 lead. The second period ended at 5-5. The third period started with Jordan Robertson scoring his third goal for the hat-trick but unfortunately the Northmen followed that up with four unanswered goals to give Orangeville a 9-6 lead.Mike Triolo would score his second of the game but with the Beaches net empty, the Northmen scored once more ending the game with a final score of 10-7 for Orangeville. The game was very close and very high paced. Goaltender Michael Lalani played a fantastic game to keep the Beaches in it all the way. The boys will regroup and prepare for their much anticipated home opening game against St. Catharines on Sunday, May 13.

For the last day of camp on Wednesday, April 25^th, the boys played Brampton in the Ted Reeve Arena ‘Bubble’. The game was a tight affair until the last few minutes when Brampton scored a few goals to secure an 8-4 win. Beaches had 4 different scorers who were Jake Wilkinson, Jordy Robertson, Jesse Rabishaw, and Ryan Fournier. Mike Lalani and Tyler McKendrick split time in net with thirty minutes each and each allowed 4 goals but were very solid and gave the team a chance to win. The storyline of the game was a young group that worked very hard but struggled to find the back of the net.

Sunday April 22nd marked the first Beaches Jr. A exhibition game of the 2012 season. The team took on the Peterborough Lakers in Peterborough. The boys found themselves in a battle that lasted from the opening faceoff to the final buzzer and was very close the entire game. Although they fell just short losing 12-10, they all showed great spirit and made an ordinary exhibition game an exciting spectacle.

The top Beaches players were all three goaltenders (Tyler McKenrick, Brandon Styres and Mike Lalani) who each had a strong game. The Offense came primarily from Ryan Fournier with 4 goals, Jordan Robertson with 2 goals and 4 assists, and Jackson Hulbert who scored 3 goals and added 2 assists.

The next exhibition game is Wednesday April 25 at the Ted Reeve Bubble versus Brampton.

Stephen Keogh helps the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team claimed its record 10th NCAA Division I title with a 13-10 victory against Johns Hopkins on Monday, May 26 in front of 48,970 fans at Gillette Stadium, the largest crowd to ever witness an NCAA outdoor championship.Freshman Keogh started the offence scoring the first and third goals.“Johns Hopkins scored first while Syracuse were off to a slow start but got on the board, and evened the scoring at 1-1, following a nifty behind-the-head rebound goal from Keogh on the doorstep at the 7:51 mark.”

“The Orange scored six of the game’s next seven goals, sparked by Keogh’s tally from just outside the crease off a feed from rookie longstick midfielder Joel White and carried a 6-5 lead into the intermission.”

Stephen finished seventh in the Orange offence for the 2008 season with 20 goals and 2 assists, he was often referred to as “the Syracuse man-up specialist”.

Congratulations Stephen!