Northmen Win Minto Cup

With game one and two in the books the Orangeville Northmen are in full control of the series and are looking at sweeping the Shamrocks in the best of five, stealing three straight games.

Say what you will, Orangeville are not only strong in both ends of the floor but also have an arsenal consisting of various players to score at will.

The win for Orangeville sees them capture the historic Minto Cup Championship for the 7th time in the history of the organization wrapping up what many call the perfect week.

Grabbing a decisive 7-5 win in game three saw them surprise many in the lacrosse world by winning all six games, three in the round robin and the final three in the championship series.

Through the six games played they fell behind by only 23:07 minutes over the total 360 minutes played over the six games. 

Watching all games played you could sense that they were not only strong but solid in all areas of the team from offensive play to the play in net.

Tournament MVP Jonathan Donville was a late addition to the team prior to the June trade deadline managed to score two in the last 5:06 of the game eventually giving Orangeville a 7-5 win.

In addition to scoring the final two he was credited to scoring three in total while grabbing four assists in the contest.

Following the game I asked Northmen Head Coach Bruce Codd about his performance and he mentioned “You almost kind of knew when the (score was tied), the stage was set for Jonathan Donville as he has been so clutch.”

He (Donoville) on the other hand mentioned “I just tried to get to the middle of the goal and shoot it as hard as I (could) and he (Curtis) put me in a good spot for both of those.”

With the game winding down and 6 minutes remaining it was Shamrocks MacDonald who was able to tie the game only to see Donville score 54 seconds later.

As if that wasn’t enough Donville managed to get another with 3:15 remaining in the game which was enough to seal the championship win for Orangeville.

The overall series saw him collect 19 goals, 20 assists for 39 points in his six game performance overall which worked out to 6.5 points per game.

In conversation with the Ontario rep in the press box he mentioned that if the series would have continued there was a chance he could have managed to exceed Brampton Excelsiors duo of Jeff Teat (22 goals) and Clarke Petterson (43 points). 

This was achieved in seven games at the 2018 Minto Cup that has both players listed as second in their respective scoring categories at a Minto Cup championship. 

If you’re a “stat’s buff” the record for both of the overall stats is held in 1987 by Esquimalt Legion’s Paul Gait who collected 29 goals and 58 points in six games.

When  chatting with Donville, Sportswave reporter Bruce Nolte mentioned “I was happy I could contribute at the end and make a few plays but even if I didn’t score a point this tournament, it would have been just as sweet.” 

He continued “They say it is the hardest trophy to win in our sport and I kind of see why. It took everything we had as a team. There are no words to describe it.”

More to follow!!!