Merchants Take Another Step in Journey with Victory

By Mark Stehlin

The Brooklin Merchants set out on a journey at the beginning of the season to celebrate their 25th anniversary in style. The coaching staff of Ryan Degerdon and Mark Debrone have been consistent in their messaging that each game should be seen as a step to the next goal. They wanted first place in the league for home floor advantage in the playoffs, that was achieved. They aim to win the Clare Levack Trophy as Ontario Sr B champions, last night’s 11-3 win over the Six Nations Rivermen in a best two of three final moved them closer to that goal. Finally, as hosts of the 2025 Presidents Cup they plan to come out on top of the eight-team tournament that runs August 23-30 at Iroquois Park Sports Centre.

Game one in the series took place at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena as opposed to Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby as the 20th annual Ontario Lacrosse Festival has taken over and all pads are in high demand.

The home side opened the scoring before a power play marker from Alex Marinier and a late goal from Kellen Pulera gave the Merchants a slim 2-1 lead after one period.

The teams traded goals to start the middle frame before the Merchants offensive threat took over and they rallied with three unanswered en route to a 6-3 lead after forty minutes.

The third period was all Merchants with two power-play markers on a five-goal run to win the game by a score of 11-3 and a 1-0 lead in this best two-of-three Ontario final. Both teams will of course play in the Presidents Cup, but the Merchants have always planned to earn their way into the competition. The Rivermen faced some penalty trouble in that final frame with the referees assessing eight infractions on the home side.

“The plan tonight was to set the tone and stick to our plan which is to play Merchants lacrosse and get the win, which we did very well,” said Head Coach Ryan Degerdon after the game.

“We are a group that shares a common goal. I told the guys to block out the noise and reminded them that all that matters is what we have in the room. We’ll do our talking on the floor and keep the ultimate goal in perspective,” added Degerdon.

Scoring - Renaud (1,0) Carrigan (0,6) MacLeod (0,4) Elliott (0,1) Marinier (4,4) D Pipher (0,3) Perroni (0,1) Pullera (2,1) P Pipher (4,0)

The series reverts to Iroquois Park Sports Centre for game two on Saturday August 16 at 4 pm and if needed, game three is Sunday August 17 also a 4 pm start.