NorthStars Break It Open In Second Period To Sink Cruise

By Gary Groob 

The Collingwood Cruise (2-7) faced the Owen Sound NorthStars (7-4) in Ontario Series Lacrosse action Friday night at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Arena in Owen Sound, Ontario.

The goaltending match-up had Oliver Vanyo in net for Collingwood facing Myles Playter in net for the NorthStars.

The Owen Sound NorthStars used a dominant second-period surge to pull away from the Collingwood Cruise, earning an impressive 11-5 victory Friday night at Harry Lumley Bayshore Arena.

After taking a narrow 3-2 lead into the first intermission, the NorthStars briefly surrendered the advantage as Collingwood struck twice in the opening 95 seconds of the second period. Owen Sound answered immediately, however, with Jake McNabb and Colton McKechnie scoring just 18 seconds apart to reclaim the lead before erupting for four more unanswered goals later in the frame. Mason Kreller, Rob Kloepfer, McKechnie, and Jordan Caskenette all found the back of the net during the decisive run, giving the NorthStars a commanding 9-5 lead after 40 minutes.

The third period featured plenty of end-to-end action and strong goaltending before Riley Thompson finally broke through midway through the frame. Brock McIlmoyle added another late marker to seal the 11-5 victory. Jake McNabb led the Owen Sound attack with seven points, while Brock McIlmoyle and Colton McKechnie each scored twice. Despite being outshot 52-46, Myles Playter and the NorthStars made the timely saves, improving to 7-4 on the season.

To The Game:

Owen Sound got moving quickly with Brock McIlmoyle converting a Jake McNabb pass at 1:52, followed by McNabb himself with a blast off a Wyatt Barfoot feed at 9:02 for a 2-0 cushion.

Collingwood cut the lead in half with a sidearm snipe from Braeden Lockyer-Fagan off a Chase Forsythe pass at 12:39, but Jake Doolittle responded with an outside bounced shot off a Riley Thompson pass at 14:11.

Braydon Hickey kept the Cruise in the game wiring a Zach Burke pass into the shortside corner at 15:57.

After one period, Owen Sound 3 Collingwood 2 .
Shots on goal favored Collingwood 16-11.

Second Period:

Collingwood started the second period on fire with Spencer Andrews scoring just 25 seconds into the frame, followed by Evan Gray with a low to high blast off a Brenden McLeod pass at 1:35 to take the lead.

Jake McNabb responded with a great individual effort off a Carter Moran feed at 6:18, followed by Colton McKechnie with a low laser also off a Moran pass 18 seconds later to regain Owen Sound's lead.

The Cruise tied the game once again with Josh Sanchez finding the corner off a Chase Forsythe pass at 11:00, but the NorthStars then exploded for four consecutive goals to break the game wide open.

Mason Kreller finished a Jake McNabb pass at 12:26, followed by Rob Kloepfer with a low to low laser off a Wyatt Barfoot pass 30 seconds later. 

Colton McKechnie then increased the NorthStars lead with a rope off a Jordan Caskenette pass at 13:41, followed by Caskenette himself with a sweet move from the top of crease off a Carter Moran feed at 15:47.

After two periods, Owen Sound 9 Collingwood 5.
Shots on goal favored the NorthStars 20-16.

Third Period:

After a flurry of activity, and end to end action for almost half of the third period, Owen Sound broke through with Riley Thompson scoring on a great individual effort unassisted at 9:33, followed by Brock McIlmoyle with a sidearm snipe off a Jake McNabb pass at 12:42.

Final score, Owen Sound 11 Collingwood 5.
Shots on goal favored the Cruise 20-15, for a game total of 52-46 in favor of Collingwood. 

The Three Stars:

1. Jake McNabb 
2. Riley Thompson 
3. Myles Playter