Balanced Brooklin Attack Too Much for James Gang in 16-9 Victory

By Gary Groob 

The Ennismore James Gang (2-9) traveled to face the Brooklin Merchants (9-1) in Ontario Series Lacrosse action Sunday evening at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby, Ontario. 

The goaltending match-up had Riley Finn in net for the James Gang facing Ryan Schuetzkowski in net for the Merchants. 

Brooklin's high-powered offense was firing on all cylinders Sunday night as the Merchants defeated the Ennismore James Gang 16-9 at Iroquois Park Sports Centre. While the visitors battled hard and capitalized on the power play throughout the night, Brooklin answered every push with timely goals of its own, using a dominant first period and another strong middle frame to stay firmly in control. Lucas Littlejohn, and Landon Sinfield both had four goals, as the Merchants received scoring from all over the lineup in another complete team effort.

To their credit, the James Gang never stopped competing. Liam Vollans led the offense with three goals, while Maxwell Taylor, Nick DiLauro, Mason Tardiff, Daniel Clark, Kyle Morley-Whitten, and Sebastian Reynolds all found the scoresheet. But Brooklin's depth, transition game, and ability to convert on key opportunities—including a pair of shorthanded goals—proved to be the difference. The Merchants outshot Ennismore 67-41 and closed out the game with a disciplined defensive third period to improve to 9-1 on the season.

To The Game:

Brooklin got on the board quickly with Owen Tapper converting a Lucas Littlejohn pass at 29 seconds, but Maxwell Taylor evened the score in transition off a long lead pass from Riley Finn at 1:53.

The Merchants then got on track with Landon Sinfield scoring back to back tallies.   The first was from the outside off a Ryan Langille pass at 3:49, followed by converting a Jack Oldman pass off a faceoff win 11 seconds later. 

Liam Vollans got Ennismore back in the game with a power-play marker off a Nick DiLauro feed at 6:42, but Robbie Baxter answered with a shorthanded marker off a Carson Christie pass in transition at 7:53.

Nick DiLauro kept the James Gang fighting with yet another power-play goal off a Liam Vollans pass at 8:19, but Lucas Littlejohn responded with a sidearm snipe off a Robbie Baxter feed at 13:20.

Adam Perroni then scored another shorthanded marker for the Merchants in transition off a long lead pass from Ryan Schuetzkowski at 14:08, but Liam Vollans' second power-play goal of the frame kept the James Gang in the game at 14:40.

Brooklin ended the first period with a flurry.  First Lucas Littlejohn hit the corner off a Carson Christie pass at 16:50, followed by Christie himself converting a Landon Sinfield pass at 19:02 to increase the lead to four. 

After one  period, Brooklin 8 Ennismore 4.
Shots on goal favored Brooklin 23-14.

Second Period:

Brooklin kept up the momentum with Lucas Littlejohn finishing a Robbie Baxter pass at 1:47, followed by Carter Page from in close off a Brodie Shea feed at 2:34.

Liam Vollans scored again on the power-play for Ennismore with an outside blast off a Daniel Clark pass at 5:12, followed by Kyle Morely-Whitten with a quick stick off an Adam Churchill pass at 7:04.

Lucas Littlejohn converted a Ryan Langille dish at 9:34, but Mason Tardiff responded with a goal from the top of the crease off a Daniel Clark pass at 12:07.

Landon Sinfield then fired a rope that caught the top corner off a Carson Christie feed 20 seconds later, only to be answered by Daniel Clark with a low bounced shot off an Adam Churchill pass at 15:56, in this extremely entertaining back and forth period.

The Merchants kept the pressure up near the end with Elijah Edwards converting a Jack Oldman pass off a faceoff win 5 seconds later, followed by Landon Sinfield with another outside blast off a Zach Miller feed at 19:07.

After two periods, Brooklin 15 Ennismore 8.
Shots on goal favored the Merchants 17-16.

Third Period:

The third period settled into a much more defensive battle, with each team finding the back of the net just once. Sebastian Reynolds got the James Gang rolling at 13:28, capitalizing on a broken play from the side of the crease unassisted. Brooklin responded in the closing seconds of the frame, as Carter Page finished off an Eddy Ferrede feed with just 17 seconds remaining in the game.

Final score, Brooklin 16 Ennismore 9.
Shots on goal favored Brooklin 27-11, for a game total of 67-41 in favor of the Merchants. 

The Three Stars:

1. Lucas Littlejohn 
2. Landon Sinfield 
3. Liam Vollans