Peewee Fury take Gold at Provincial Championships

The Kawartha Lakes Peewee Fury sponsored by Jim Newton Electric captured the Ontario Lacrosse Association Peewee D Championship with an exciting 7-4 win over the Orangeville Northmen on Sunday.

Kawartha Lakes breezed through Group 1 of the round robin, handing 13-0 losses to both the Stayner Hitmen and Sun County Crows. Kawartha Lakes entered the final game of the Round Robin with an opportunity to clinch first place in Group 1 and a bye to the Championship Game on Sunday. The Fury battled a much bigger Six Nations Warriors team with the Fury’s quickness prevailing with a 11-2 win. The Fury defence did not allow a goal until 11:59 of the third period.

“Our defence was just on through the round robin. We really started to click defensively over the final 4 or 5 games this season, that translated into a strong effort at provincials.” Said Fury Coach Paul Hough.

The easy games were left behind when the Fury met the Orangeville Northmen in Sunday’s final. The Northmen entered the game unbeaten in Group 2 and on a high from winning the semi final game earlier in the day against Six Nations. “They had an excellent team and were well coached. We scouted them well and had a plan going in, but we knew it would be a tight game.” Said Hough.

The game was fast paced right from the opening draw. The Fury opened the scoring when Hayden Ryan broke in alone and fired a shot past the Orangeville goaltender at 10:47 of the first. Orangeville answered back on a questionable goal at 7:13 of the first when the referee called a goal on what looked like a shot off the post. “The crowd went nuts, the referee had his view obstructed but seemed pretty sure it had went in.” added Hough, “The players just needed to shake that off.” They did so with 3:13 left in the first when Nic Williams beat the Orangeville defence for a 2-1 lead going into the intermission.

The second period opened with a Fury goal by Captain Thomas Weber assisted by Ryan and Jasper Poulton. The run continued 58 seconds later when Craig Shier won the draw and broke the Orangeville defence to put the Fury ahead 4-1. Orangeville would answer back just seconds after the Fury killed off a penalty to make it 4-2. The game was too close to call, until Orangeville started to take countless penalties. A late high sticking penalty proved costly for the Northmen as the Fury power play unit took over when Jacob Halsall took a pass from Thomas Weber and fired it over the shoulder of the Northmen goalie to put the Fury up 5-2 heading into the third.


The Northmen came out flying in the third and beat Fury Goalie Josh O’Neill with 13 minutes left in the third. O’Neill was steady throughout the game and was very active in the net. “He was just calm, both of our goalies played well all year, but Josh turned it up a notch in the big game.” Earl Westlake got the goal back 3 minutes later on a great passing play from Liam Newton and Williams. The Northmen continued to parade to the penalty box with 12 minutes in penalties in the final frame. The Fury put the game out of reach when Weber beat the Orangeville netminder with a low shot through the five hole.

As the clock ticked down, the Fury had 4 veteran players from last years team on the floor. When the final buzzer sounded, the score was 7-4. The players hoped over the bench and swarmed O’Neill. “We felt it was important to reward the kids who stuck with the team.” Adding that there were players who didn't return from last years team. “We had some kids that didn't think we were going to be successful this season, these guys stuck with the team through the hard times and deserved to be on the floor.”

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