After cruising through the Minto Cup round robin with a perfect record, the Orangeville Northmen reached an even higher gear Friday night in the opener of the best-of-three tournament final.
The Northmen scored four times in the first period and built a 10-2 lead after two en route to an emphatic 19-7 victory over the Coquitlam Adanacs at Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby.
The Northmen, who won their three group stage games by a combined score of 32-13, beat the Adanacs 9-5 in the tournament opener. They easily surpassed that margin of victory on Friday.
The early lead was important for the Northmen, who hadn't played since closing out the round robin on Tuesday, but it was an outstanding second period that made the major difference. The man in the middle of most of that was Mitchell Jones, one of 13 Northmen in their final year of junior lacrosse.
Jones had five points in that second period on the way to finishing with six goals and 13 points to front the Northmen attack.
"It means a lot to get that first game, but obviously the second one is still to come," Jones said outside the room afterwards. "It was a full team effort and our team knows what's at stake."
Brandon Benn, Rob Hellyer and Cody McMahon fired home three each with others coming from Ian MacKay, Jordan Critch, and Jordan Dance with two.
