Gary Groob
All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of Edge of Philly Sports Network
The Miners Lacrosse Club (0-1) faced the Whitby Warriors (1-0) in game one of the Minto Cup best of three finals on Saturday night.
The Warriors were the favorites, with no one even giving the Miners any chance to make the finals. Whitby is a very well rounded team however, Edmonton dazzled the crowds with their speed and finesse in round robin action, surprising the Toronto Beaches with a 20-12 win in the semi-final. With Melenychuk in the Miners net, anything is possible.
The goaltending match-up had Keegan Melenychuk for the Miners facing Kaleb Martin for Whitby.
Although the first period was close, Whitby never stopped working, and was rewarded with a strong second period to blow the game open. Led by Brock Haley (2g,4a), Gabriel Sorichetti (3g, 2a), and Adam Poitras (2g,2a) the Warriors controlled the pace of the game most of the night and were rewarded with a 12-8 win.
To The Game:
Edmonton got rolling immediately with Davis Dame converting a cross crease pass from Mathieu Gautier just 0:31 seconds in. Whitby stormed back with three goals. Jack Oldman scored unassisted just 0:37 seconds later. Gabriel Sorichetti converted a Brock Haley pass at 8:01, followed by Brock Haley increasing the lead to 3-1 finishing a Jack Oldman pass just 0:06 seconds later.
The Miners answered back when Caelan Mander scored off a Charlie McFadden feed at 8:22, but Gabriel Sorichetti’s second of the night regained the Warriors two goal lead at 12:00. Jake Bowan and Parker Pipher traded goals to make the game 5-3.
Jace Lesanko replaced Keegan Melenychuk after the Pipher goal at 14:35.
Charlie McFadden brought Edmonton back to within one goal scoring off a Jake Bowen pass at 17:54.
After one period, Whitby 5 Miners 4.
- Shots on goal favored Whitby 16-11.
Second Period:
The period opened with a frantic pace. Both goalies were sharp, making key saves to keep this a one goal game.
Whitby’s Adam Poitras fired a shot that just squeaked by Jace Lesanko off a Brock Haley pass at 4:20, followed by Gabriel Sorichetti’s third of the night firing a shot low to the far side off a Riley Knox pass at 6:11.
The Warriors continued to attack, scoring Shorthanded when Ben McConnell fed Owen Tapper with a long lead pass beating Lesanko at 8:45.
The Edmonton Miners finally got back on the board when Jacob Power scored from the outside off a Mathieu Gautier pass at 14:02.
Jace Lesanko made three great saves at the end of the period to keep Edmonton in the game.
After two periods, Whitby 8 Miners 5.
- Shots on goal were 18-17 in favor of Edmonton, for a game total off 33-29 in favor of Whitby.
Third Period:
The Warriors got rolling immediately with Parker Pipher scoring his second of the night on the power play off a Lucas Littlejohn feed at 0:55 seconds, followed by Brock Haley scoring his second of the game at 1:54 with a shot from the outside off an Adam Poitras pass.
Jake Bowan’s second goal of the game got the Miners rolling again converting a Zach Basisty feed at 5:33, followed by Marcus Needham quick sticking a Mathieu Gautier feed past Kaleb Martin at 7:20 making. This was now just a three goal lead.
Lucas Littlejohn scored off an interception in the Edmonton zone to give Whitby a four goal lead with just 4:22 left, but the “never say die” Miners came back with Jake Bowen scoring his third of the game off a Callin Harris feed at 16:18. Adam Poitras scored his third of the game off a great individual effort by Lucas Littlejohn at 17:40.
Final score, Whitby 12 Edmonton 8.
- Shots on goal favored the Miners 16-15.
Game Stats:
- Shots on goal was 48-45 in favor of Whitby
- Whitby went 1 for 1 on the power play, also scoring a shorthanded goal.
Edmonton went 0 for 2 on the power play.
Top Scorers:
Edmonton Miners:
- Jake Bowan 3g, 1a
- Mathieu Gautier 0g, 4a
- Davis Dame 1g, 2a
Whitby Warriors:
- Brock Haley 2g, 4a
- Gabriel Sorichetti 3g, 2a
- Adam Poitras 2g, 2a
Whitby takes a 1-0 lead and can win the Minto Cup with a victory Sunday evening at 7pm.
Don’t forget to check us out every Sunday night at 9pm (ET)
Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
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