Fury Midgets Lose Rough Game to Uxbridge Rivals

It seems that in every sport, rivalries between certain teams and individuals become well known classic confrontations over the years. Whether it be the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Montreal Canadiens, or Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier, rivalries with certain foes have added to the anticipation and emotion whenever competition between them takes place. For the Farmers Mutual midget rep lacrosse team, a natural and heated rivalry with the Uxbridge Enforcers has developed in short time. In the two years of rep play for the Kawartha Lakes Minor Lacrosse Association, it appears that Uxbridge has become the most obvious and natural rival.

There have been many tough battles between Fury and Enforcers teams in the past two years, but none have been as heated and penalty-filled as the most recent matchup that took place last week (June 27) at the Lindsay Recreation Complex. The midget Fury were on the losing end of a 10-2 game against Uxbridge, but the final score seemed lost amidst an abundance of penalties. The Fury received a total of 81 penalty minutes, compared to 35 for Uxbridge.

The loss was the second in two nights for Farmers Mutual, which was defeated 12-2 the night before by the Clarington Gaels in Oshawa.

The last time that the Fury midgets had played Uxbridge was a closely-contested match for the consolation championship in a tournament June 10. In that game, Uxbridge edged the Fury 7-6 after Kawartha Lakes jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead. That scenario would not be repeated on Wednesday, however, as the Enforcers established control from the beginning of the game, peppering Fury starting goaltender James Puffer with 13 shots in the first period for a 5-1 lead.

Major penalties and misconducts were the rule rather than the exception in the second period, in which the Fury were outshot 6-0. With a 7-1 lead after two periods, the Enforcers scored three more times in the third. Corey Fargo and Steve Junkin scored for the Fury, who were outshot 28-6 overall.

The night before in Oshawa, the Fury played the Gaels very closely for the first two periods. Though Clarington managed a 5-2 lead after two, Kawartha Lakes played very well in both ends of the rink, keeping opposition scoring chances to a minimum. Fury goalie Luke Smith gave up just one goal on eight shots in the first period, but Clarington netted three goals in quick succession early in the second to open up its lead. Trailing 5-0 late in the second, the Fury got back in the game with goals by Wade Coady and Alex Brodhagen before the end of the period.

The Gaels regained offensive control in the third, outshooting Kawartha Lakes 14-2 in the period and scoring seven times. Clarington outshot the Fury 32-10 overall.




Home