Lacrosse players from north of the border came home from the 5th Annual Dick’s Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions in Florida with plenty of hardware.
In the elite division, the Kanienkehaka Krunch, from the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, captured Elite gold, while the Ontario Edge beat the New Westminster Salmonbellies to earn bronze.
The victory was the second for the Krunch program. which won the Rising Stars title in 2009.
Following a thrilling overtime win in the semifinals against the two-time champion Salmonbellies, the Krunch beat the Road Warriors 8-6 in the final.
Six Nations Rebels 2010 Rookie of the Year Jake Bomberry scored a pair of goals in the final for the Krunch, while Warren Hill, who also played for the OLA Jr. B team this past season, recorded a pair of assists and was outstanding between the pipes earning the Elite Division Championship Game MVP award.
It's the first time a goaltender has won the award.
The Krunch trailed the Road Warriors for much more than 15 minutes in the first half. The game was tied at the outset, and knotted in a 3-3 tie from the 15:31 mark until 18:23.
Road Warriors midfielder Lyle Thompson (1g, 1a) started the scoring with an unassisted goal 4:42 into the first. Just 1:04 later, midfielder Randall Stats (3, 1) made it 2-0. The Krunch got on the board at 7:10 on a goal by senior midfielder Storm Adams (1, 0). He was assisted on the play by sophomore attackman Dalston Day (1, 2).
Stats registered his second of the game on the man-up at 10:18 on an assist from Thompson to open up another two-goal lead, but the Krunch responded with two goals of their own. Junior attackman Ky Tarbell (2, 0) scored on an assist from junior midfielder Kyle Whitlow (0, 2) at 13:54 and fellow junior Seth Oakes (junior attackman) followed on an unassisted score 1:37 later to tie the score at 3.
A pass from Stats to attackman Brad Burnam was buried in the back of the net at 18:23 and was the last tally for either team in the first half.
Trailing by a goal to start the second, the Krunch wasted little time tying the score once again. A man-up goal by Jake Bomberry (2, 0) made it 4-4, but Stats responded on the crease by corralling a rebound off a save by Krunch left-handed goalie Warren Hill and regaining the lead for the Road Warriors, 5-4, at the 8:52 mark.
The Krunch scored the next two to take their first lead of the game. Bomberry’s second at 12:48 tied the score at 5, while a feed from Day to Bomberry made it 6-5 at 14:31.
An unassisted transition goal nearly three minutes later by midfielder Eric Sipperly (1, 0) produced the game’s fourth consecutive tie at 6, and would end up being the final score of the game by the Road Warriors.
Krunch midfielder Zach Miller notched the game-winner, an unassisted goal at 18:48, that was followed two minutes later by Tarbell’s tally to make it an 8-6 final.
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In a bronze medal game of two Canadian teams that have each won two Elite Division national championships, the Edge Juniors (Ontario – 2006 & 2010 titles) fought back from a first-half deficit to defeat the New Westminster Salmonbellies (British Columbia) 7-6.
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