After playing fast, fun and hard-fought games, the Oakville Buzz completed the second half of their regular Ontario Junior Lacrosse League season. On Saturday, July 31, they faced Kitchener-Waterloo and Six Nations Arrows and Sunday, the Brampton Excelsiors and Burlington.
Game 1: Kitchener-Waterloo
Their first game for the Oakville Buzz was against the Kitchener-Waterloo Lacrosse Club.
Oakville would find themselves down early due to a laser beam shot by Kitchener-Waterloo, giving them a 1-0 lead.
Oakville would tie the game at 1-1 after a bounce shot goal by Kyle Kennery.
They would take a 2-1 lead after a goal by Henery Follows set up beautifully by Edward Qu and would go up 3-1 after a goal by Marley Angus just as the shot clock expired.
Kitchener-Waterloo would close the gap slightly, cutting the lead to 3-2 after a goal by Shane Hallowell right before the end of the first period.
Oakville would regain the two-goal lead after a shorthanded goal by Will Sheehan, assisted by Marley Angus. Sheehan would get another shorthanded goal stretching their lead to 5-2.
Oakville took control from that point. A hat-trick by Sheehan capped off the game, giving the Buzz an 8-5 victory.
Though the Buzz won the game, the cost was high; one of their leaders, Marley Angus, rolled his ankle during the game and would find himself on crutches. His return was improbable. This was brutal news for the Buzz since last weekend, they lost their captain, Phil Mazzuca. Now another one of their veteran leaders was sidelined by an injury.
Game 2: Six Nations Arrows
The Buzz would have to brush off the injury trouble and prepare for their night game against the Six Nations Arrows.
Oakville played the Arrows last Saturday, winning 11 to 3. They were looking for a similar victory.
Oakville started the game with a quick goal by Curtis Goddard.
Six Nations tied the game quickly, bringing the game even at 1-1, and then scored three more unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead.
Oakville wouldn’t go away quietly as they scored a powerplay goal to make it 4-2.
Six Nations would get a goal right back, giving them a three-goal advantage again and going into the 1st intermission with a 5-2 lead.
Oakville opened the period with a big goal by Henry Follows.
Six Nations scored their sixth goal to give them a three-goal lead again.
With no quit determination, the Buzz came back to scored their fourth goal.
Then newly acquired Chris Weier scored, tightening the deficit to one.
Then a big goal by the Buzz would tie the game 6-6.
The Buzz then found themselves in major penalty trouble.
The team took two penalties in the same play, putting them down two men and giving Six Nations a 5 on 3 powerplay.
Six Nations would score on the powerplay, giving them a 7-6 lead as the second period expired.
At the start of the third, the Buzz's, Tyler Ford, tied the game with a goal in transition.
Chris Weier would score a goal putting Oakville ahead by one. Their first lead since the beginning of the game.
Six Nations then scored shortly after to tie the game at eight.
Then with 7:35 left in the game, Six Nations took the lead at 9-8.
Oakville got back in the game with a goal by Will Sheehan, making the score 9-9.
Shortly after, Six Nations scored, giving them a 10-9 lead.
After a valiant effort to save the game, the Buzz left their net unattended, allowing Six Nations to score, ending the game at 11-9 for the Arrows.
After the game, I spoke with goal scorer Chris Weier on how The Buzz let the game slip away, and he said, “throughout the game, I think there were penalties we shouldn’t have taken, and we played a man down quite a bit in the third. We also had chances to take control of the game, but we couldn’t capitalize.”
Oakville headed into Sunday with a slim chance at the playoffs.
They needed to win their final two games against Brampton and Burlington and have another team in their conference lose to get the final playoff spot.
Game 3: Brampton Excelsiors
Oakville started the day against the Brampton Excelsior, who they had lost to last week.
Oakville started with a quick goal at the start of the first period to put them up 1-0. They played a very tight defence for the entire period that ensured the Excelsiors couldn't score.
The Buzz would then find themselves in a deep hole after letting in two goals during a penalty kill.
Before the end of the second period, Oakville surrendered two more goals. The score was 4-1 at the second intermission.
Oakville was looking for a big period but allowed two more goals in quick succession at the beginning of the period that gave Brampton a 6-1 lead in the third.
Oakville's WIll Sheehan scored a couple more goals, but the Buzz would ultimately lose 8-3.
This game ended Oakville's playoff chances, making the next game their last of this short season.
Veteran Henry Follows explained how that game could slip away from the team so early, “I think we let off the gas a little bit; we got a little complacent with how we came out of the gate.”
Follows also expressed how injuries were a big part of why the team had difficulties succeeding.
He also talked about how the fatigue that players are feeling from playing multiple games a day. Also, some members of the Buzz, including Henry, played for the Oakville Rock this week in Major Series Lacrosse action, which is a Senior Lacrosse League.
When talking about the upcoming game against Burlington, Follows said, “It would be a mistake not to put our best foot forward. For a couple of other guys and me, it will be the last time we will play junior lacrosse; this is a really special league to be a part of, and the fact that it is coming to an end is disappointing, but it’s been an amazing ride so far. It’s been a pleasure to have this extra year.”
Henry then thanked TRAC owner Jamie Dawick and the entire OJLL for organizing the event and letting him and others have one last ride before they move on to other leagues.
Game 4: Burlington
Oakville's final game against Burlington closed out their 2021 season.
The Buzz started the game with a quick goal by Caleb Commandant, in transition to give them a 1-0 lead.
But Oakville surrendered three unanswered goals to go down 3-1.
Will Sheehan scored another goal, making it 3-2, but Oakville would let in two more, making the score 5-2.
After the fifth goal, coach Joe Johnson decided to pull Sam Haines and replace him with Aden Walsh.
Will Sheehan got his second goal of the game, making the game 5-3, but Burlington scored before the end of the period giving them a 6-3 lead at the end of the first period.
The Buzz started closed the gap, starting with a goal by Chris Weier at the beginning of the second period making it a 6-4 game.
Then, Xander Derkatz scored to make the game 6-5, pulling the Buzz within 1 goal. Then a Kyle Kennery goal on a 5 on 3 would tie up the game for the Buzz.
Unfortunately, Burlington scored on a penalty shot giving the them a 7-6 lead.
The Buzz's Henry Follows scored right back on another 5 on 3 power play tying the game at seven.
Oakville stayed on the power play after that goal, and Michael Jackman would give Buzz their first lead since the game's opening goal.
Oakville found themselves in penalty trouble again as they gave up a powerplay goal to Burlington, tying the game up at eight before the end of the second period.
Then right as the horn rang to signal the end of the period, Oakville’s Jacob Martino got into an altercation with a Burlington player. Martino received a five-minute major penalty and was thrown out of the game. On top of that, he and the Burlington player both received two-minute penalties for interference.
So, at the start of the period, there were two minutes of 4 on 4, followed by a five-minute power play for Burlington.
Due to the great skill of the Buzz, they killed off the penalty and kept the game tied at eight. The game went on without a goal in the third period until about three and a half minutes left, when Burlington scored, giving them a 9-8 lead.
Oakville continued fighting at the end as they tried to tie the game. But, they could not and lost the game 9-8.
This game was the last game for Oakville this year and the final game for their seniors. After the game, GM Mike Szpiech went to many of his seniors and gave them a final embrace as they walked off the court.
I spoke with Mike about how the two-weekend experience was, and he said, “It was a lot of fun. I’m very happy with how the boys played. It is a lot of lacrosse in such a short amount of time after having a year off. We ran into some injury problems, but we relied on the depth that we had.” He continued by saying, “Oakville Minor is one of the best leagues to produce lacrosse talent. We were able to use a lot of kids. The obvious goal is to make the playoffs, but unfortunately, we did not; but we were competitive, and that’s all you can ask for.”
I asked Mike about the message he gave to the seniors, and he said, “I told them beforehand that you have to leave it out on the floor because you don’t want to have any regrets. I wish them the best in lacrosse, whether it’s senior or in the NCAA. It is a bitter-sweet day. You love seeing the process of them getting older, but you also hate to see them go.”
That wraps up the season for the Oakville Buzz. No date has been set for the start of next season, but hopefully, it comes sooner rather than later. The Buzz has a bright future in store, and we wish them the best of luck next season.