Mann Cup 97 Game Summaries
Thanks Times Colonist
We've been able to come to an arrangement with the Times Colonist Newspaper in Victoria. The Colonist is covering the Mann Cup in depth during the series and Sports Reporters Andrew Duffy and Jeff Rudd will be filing reports after each game. They have agreed to make these available to you, the web site lacrosse fans. I just have to type them up first..... :(
Special thanks to Dave Senick at the Colonist for all his help getting me the articles.
Game 1
Game 2
Bob Watson story
Game 3
GAME 1
Times Colonist Newspaper - Sept 9/97
Andrew Duffy
VICTORIA - Bring together Canada's best two lacrosse teams--both known for their offensive prowess--for the 1997 national championship and the last thing you would expect is a goaltender's dual.
But the first game of the 1997 Mann Cup was just that (in lacrosse terms) as Marty O'Neill, backstop of the Western Lacrosse Association champion Victoria Shamrocks and Bob Watson, netminder of the Ontario Lacrosse Association champion Niagara Falls Gamblers did battle.
It was O'Neill coming out on top in a 9 - 7 game, as Victoria took a 1 - 0 lead in the best-of-seven national final.
O'Neill stopped 25 of 32 shots for the win, while his counterpart stopped 51 of 60. But the lasting image of Game 1, which surpassed the great goaltending had to be Chris Prat's game winning goal with 1:15 left, after Niagara Falls threw away the ball trying to spring loose rookie scoring phenom Jason Luke with a long pass.
Prat, the WLA final's MVP fired a long shot that eluded Watson's grasp. Prat's goal was a huge relief for Victoria which struggled against a tough Gamblers team which posted a 3 - 2 first period lead which came as a surprise to those who expected Victoria to roll to a win.
Notable more for the miscues, missed passes and missed opportunities the first 20 minutes had to be considered a feeling out process for two teams who had never met before.
Indeed, Shamrocks head coach Nirmal Dillon expected his team to take a little time to settle down.
"The last three or four days have been tough," he said of keeping his team focused and ready after a 12-day layoff following the WLA final. "We peaked at the right time, but it might take us a couple of shifts, maybe a period to find our form. But I'm not too worred about that as long as we keep it close in the firstr period," Dillon added.
Niagara Falls also seemed ill at ease early on, with a host of missed long passes and--like their counterparts--some sloppy ball handling.
But the OLA champions struck first, with Darris Kilgour beating O'Neill 1:20 into the first.
The lead lasted all of four minutes with Victoria sniper Tom Marechek tying the score on the powerplay, followed 5 seconds later by Rick Brown's powerplay marker to stake a one-goal lead.
That was all Victoria could muster in the first with Watson sharp early turning away 20 of the 22 shots fired his way as the Niagara Falls defence struggled to hold off the Shamrocks.
Marty Calder and Troy Henderson scored the other Niagara Falls goals in the first. Jason Luke, the OLA's rookie of the year, didn't expect his squad to miss a beat early on, noting the team has already learned it can't afford not to be ready for big games.
"We're young and didn't realize that at this level you can't afford to come out flat," he said referring to a 17 - 4 loss to Brampton during the OLA final in Game 5 (the Gamblers came back to win Games 6 and 7). "If you come out flat you're finished because at this level the other team's ready."
Luke says the team came together after that and the Gamblers' confidence grew with it.
"Everyone on this team knows their job now. (The lesson of the 17 - 4 loss) was one you take note of and you have that forever," he said.
The Gamblers certainly didn't come out flat Monday night playing the fast-break game that carried them to the OLA Championship, but O'Neill wasn't giving much room and shut out the Gamblers in the second.
Victoria was the team on track in the second period managing two goals on Watson--Marechek's second and Gary Gait's first.
Both team's got their offence somewhat in gear in the third with Niagara Falls scoring four times--Darris Kilgour, Derek Graham (2) and Grant Johnston doing the honors.
Victoria's five goals came from Neil Doddridge, Halladay, Prat and Tyson Leies into an empty net with six seconds left.
Times Colonist
Jeff Rudd
One of the basic unwritten rules of any sport is that you don't provide the bulletin borad material for your opponent's dressing room.
In other words, you don't say something that will fire the other guys up, make them see red. Who needs it, right?
Well, so much for the unwritten rules in this Mann Cup.
While almost everybody is picking the host Shamrocks to prevail in this best-of-seven national lacrosse final, Victoria goaltender Marty O'Neill went a step further prior to Monday night's salty series opener.
In a weekend Mann Cup preview that appeared in this paper, O'Neill waved the red flag. "To be honost, I think they're going to be in tough against us....," he said of the visiting Niagara Falls Gamblers. "Talent-wise, they may be able to put two players in our top eight."
And how about this one?
"I fully expect us to go in and win this four straight."
I can't quite recall any pre-series quotes, in any sport, that have been so dead certain of victory. Usually you get something banal like: "Well, you know. we can't afford to take those guys lightly," or "We've got to be ready because, at this level, anybody can beat anybody else on any given night." Yada, yada, yada.
But thanks to O'Neill, the Gamblers had all the emotional ammunition they needed heading into Monday's Game 1 in that sweatbox also known as Memorial Arena.
Funny thing, though. The Gamblers, almost to a man, refused to take the bait. At a pre-Mann Cup press conference, there were no indignant cries for respect or harsh responses to O'Neill's prediction. The Gamblers, with the exception of rookie sensation Jason Luke who mentioned in a radio interview Monday that maybe O'Neill shouldn't shoot off his mouth, were pretty quiet.
"You never write somebody off before you see them play," said Luke, who by Monday's face-off had toned down his response. "If we were to go out and get beat 22 - 0, then you can write whatever you want. But I'll tell you, this team's got character.
It also has some moxie. These Gamblers have managed to stick around when many thought they wouldn't. Their lineup includes five stars from the Six Nations team that won the past three Mann Cups. They have two players--Darris Kilgour and Randy Mearns--who have won five straight Mann Cup rings. Despite a lineup that includes 12 rookies, Niagara Falls went from being projected fifth in Ontario all the way to the Mann Cup. On Monday night they proved they belonged there, despite the 9 - 7 loss to Victoria.
One gets the sneaky feeling that these guys, while maybe not as deep or as strong on paper as the'Rocks, know exactly what they're doing. One gets the feeling that they don't mind being discounted, that they don't mind playing the tortoise to the Shamrocks' hare.
It is always easiest to sneak up on somebody when he can't hear you coming.
GAME 2
Victoria Times Colonist - Sept 10
By Andrew Duffy
VICTORIA - If defence and great goaltending win championships, the Niagara Falls Gamblers just sent the Victoria Shamrocks a wake up call.
The Gamblers paced by Jason Luke's hattrick and the great goaltending of Bob Watson handed the Shamrocks a 9 - 6 loss in Game 2 of the 1997 Mann Cup national senior men's lacrosse championship Tuesday.
The Gamblers, the 1997 Ontario Lacrosse Association champions, held the powerful Shamrocks offence in check for much of Game 2 and evened the best-of-seven series at 1 - 1. Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday at Memorial Arena.
Despite Gary Gait's three-goal performance, Victoria had trouble dealing with a tough zone defence, and even when they found some room couldn't beat Watson often enough.
Like Game 1, the first period of Game 2 offered little in the way of goal scoring. Niagara Falls opened a two-goal lead early on with Derek Graham catching Shamrocks netminder Marty O'Neill napping with a long shot 51 seconds into the game, and Darris Kilgour neatly deflecting a long pass from Mike Accursi just over two minutes later.
Victoria's only goal came from Tom Marechek who converted a Grant Hamilton pass during a two-man advantage.
Both teams managed 15 shots in the first, but strong goaltending, particularly from Watson kept the score down.
Watson foiled both Victoria's Gait and Alton Davis--who had just under an hour on the edge of the crease to shoot--on breakaways to keep his team in front.
Gamblers head coach Terry Sanderson felt his team gave a good account of itself in Game 1 but wanted more in the second.
"We had to take some good things out of it, they are an excellent lacrosse team, the best we've played," Sanderson said. "But we made too many mistakes and didn't make the most of our opportunities."
They didn't miss many of their chances Tuesday night. And as the Shamrocks tried to break away by opening up their offence, the Gamblers kept with them all the way.
Gait found the scoring touch that eluded him during Monday's Game 1 (he finished the first game with a goal and two assists) finding the back of the net twice within 24 seconds while Victoria was shorthanded early in the second stanza.
But the Gamblers matched Victoria goal-for-goal--Grant Johnston and Travis Kilgour both scoring on the powerplay. Niagara Falls opened a two-goal lead (5 - 3) with just over six minutes left in the second when Jason Luke scored his first goal of the Mann Cup.
But Victoria clawed back and tied the game at 5 - 5 with two powerplay goals within seven seconds. Chris Prat scored after some nifty stickwork at the side of the net, and on the ensuing face-off Rod Tapp streaked in the Gamblers' zone and fired a long shot past Watson.
The Shamrocks didn't get much going in the third. Only Gait managed to find room behind Watson.
The Gamblers, on the other hand, added three more goals, two each from Randy Mearns and Luke, the OLA's 1997 rookie of the year.
Watson, overlooked as the player of the game, stopped 44 of the 58 shots he faced Tuesday (he stopped 51 of 60 in a losing ause Monday night), while O'Neill saved 32 of 41.
Shamrocks head coach Nirmal Dillon, disappointed with his team's performance in Game 1--a 9 - 7 win--admitted the Gamblers showed them some new tricks. "They certainly showed us some new looks with the backdoor moves and fastbreak," he said, noting his team was lucky to escape Game 1 with a win. "I never said this was going to be easy."
Times Colonist Newspaper - Sept 11/97
Andrew Duffy
Before the 1997 summer box lacrosse season Bob Watson was in limbo.
A backup goaltender for the Brampton Excelsiors of the Ontario Lacrosse Association, Watson faced the prospect of coming to training camp to fight for playing time with two other netminders.
Right now the only things Watson, the No 1 goaltender of the OLA champion Niagara Falls Gamblers, has to fight off are the shots of the Victoria Shamrocks at the 1997 Mann Cup.
And Watson's done that so well after the first two games of the national senior men's lacrosse championship that he's made himself a bit of a household name in Victoria.
He puts a lot of the credit for his success squarely on the shoulders of his teammates, whose defence has given him plenty of opportunity to shine.
"Our guys have done a great job of keeping (the Shamrocks) outside, forcing them to take long shots, and giving me a great view of the ball," said Watson, who boasts a 86.4 save percentage through two games, saving 94 of 110 shots fired his way. "The guys have made my job a lot easier."
Watson has been the brightest star--so far-- on a Gamblers team loaded with talent. And that's a far cry from the situation he found himself in before the season.
"I just wanted a chance to play," he said, following the Gamblers' Game 2 win over Victoria to even the best-of-seven series at 1 - 1.
"Terry (Sanderson, Niagara Falls head coach) asked me if I wanted a trade because there was a three-goalie situation in Brampton--he wanted to give me a chance," Watson said.
That chance took Watson from limbo to limelight, as he led the Gamblers through the OLA and into the Mann Cup.
"To tell you the truth, I didn't even know who Bob was when we came into training camp," admitted Travis Kilgour, the youngest of the Gamblers three Kilgour brothers.
"But after about five games we knew he was pretty good. Right now he's playing incredible--he's just gotten better all season."
And for the previously unknown Watson, winning a game in front of a boisterous and highly partisan crowd of close to 5,000 at the national championship is poetic justice.
"It's definitely gratifying," said Watson, who clearly relished the fact the Gamblers beat his old club in the OLA final. "It's always nice to get an opportunity to play, and the guys here have accepted me and played great defence in front of me."
That fact has not gone unnoticed at the other end of the floor.
Marty O'Neill, the Shamrocks starting goaltender, admits his opposite man has been hot so far, adding he's getting plenty of support.
"I can't say enough about their defence and what they're doing. They seem to block all of our shots and the zone defence is forcing us to shoot from outside." He said.
O'Neill, who praised his own defence for doing a great job, added it's getting frustrating to watch his team come away empty handed after sustained offensive pressure.
"We haven't gotten any breaks" O'Neill offered, quickly adding the Shamrocks aren't doing much to create any breaks either. "I'm not going to point fingers, but there are some guys out there playing for themselves at this point…that has hung our defence out to dry."
That was Victoria's problem earlier this season with individuals forgetting their roles in the big picture--that kind of play led to a rocky season which even reared its head in the Western Lacrosse Association final.
"It seems like we always want to shoot ourselves in the foot, we did it all year and against North Shore (Indians) in Game 2 of the final--that game we just played really badly" O'Neill said.
But after that loss the Shamrocks roared back, their offence finally kicking into gear, to win the next three games.
Kilgour acknowledged the Shamrocks have the potential to explode given a chance, but warns his team is not about to give them the opportunity.
"They are older than us and a lot more experienced. We thought we could (out)run them but they're keeping up--its going to be a tough battle," he said. The key for us defensively is we have to keep on their key players like (Gary) Gait and (Tom) Marechek."
Game 3 faces-off at 8 p.m. tonight at Memorial Arena.
GAME 3
Sept 12
By Andrew Duffy
Times Colonist Sports Staff
The Victoria Shamrocks found their scoring touch and rolled to a 14 - 7 win to take Game 3 of the 1997 Mann Cup national senior men's lacrosse championships Thursday night.
The win gives the Shamrocks a 2 - 1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 set for 8 p.m. tonight at Memorial Arena.
A third period offensive explosion, seven goals, spurred by three of Gary gait's four markers, ensured Victoria of a much needed win Thursday night.
Shamrocks head coach Nirmal Dillon admitted before Game 3 that his team had yet to find its form in this series, and planned to open up the game to get his offence going.
He got it.
Thursday's first period, perhaps the most exciting 20 minutes so far in the series with the game becoming increasingly more physical, was clearly the most offensively productive--if nothing else.
The teams split eight goals (in the previous two games they had managed just eight goals total in the first periods), Darris Kilgour leading the gamblers with two, while Marty Calder and Bob Fisher each had singles.
Niagara has scored the first goal in each of the three games, each of them coming early in the period. In Game 1 they scored 1:20 into the game, Game 2 featured a goal 51 seconds after the face-off and Thursday night Calder opened the scoring 33 seconds into the game.
Victoria's goals came from four different sources: Gait, Neil Doddridge and Del Halladay scored while the teams played four-on-four, and Rod Tapp scored a short-handed goal--each of those came in response to a Niagara Falls marker.
According to Dillon, increased offensive production and higher scoring games suit the Shamrocks just fine.
"I have been concerned about the lack of scoring for two reasons. It doesn't play in our favor--we were a high-scoring team through the playoffs, that's our style," Dillon explained.
"Also, we've built up a large lacrosse following by saying, 'we're offence, offence, offence.' Picking up the offence is better for the game, no one wants to watch a 9 - 6 game despite the fact it was exciting," he said referring to Tuesday night's Game 2
Thursday's second period, however, was testament to the fact you don't need a ton of goals to thrill a crowd. Both teams scored just three times, but the wide-open, yet physical play brought the crowd to its feet a few times, and sparked the wave midway through the period.
The Gamblers Grant Johnston scored the first of two second-period goals 11 seconds into the second frame to regain a one-goal lead for Niagara Falls. But Tom Marechek's behind-the-back shot, coming after Victoria killed off a two-man advantage, fooled Gamblers netminder Bob Watson and knotted the score again at 4 - 4.
Derek Graham put the Gamblers ahead soon after, but Victoria's Grant Pepper outran Jason Luke to the net and tied it up again just over a minute later.
Victoria then took its first lead as Marechek, off the bench for an extra attacker during a delayed-penalty call, scored his second of the game. That lead lasted all of 68 seconds as Johnston beat Shamrocks goaltender Marty O'Neill from long range.
Both teams looked sharper Thursday than they had in this series, as the jitters may finally be passing, and the visitors get used to the new surroundings.
Gamblers head coach Terry Sanderson admits his team still has a few kinks to work out at this year's national championships.
"You always like to think you haven't played your best, and in all honesty I think we can play a little better," he said.
"You have to remember there's 12 rookies in this team some of the guys still have some nerves to work out--they hear they're not supposed to be here and they're still a little jittery," he said trying to explain the miscues of the last two games.
But as strong as Sanderson's team was for the first two periods Thursday, they fell apart early in the third, as the Shamrocks offence founds its cruising speed.
And while Victoria rolled off seven straight unanswered goals to reach 14, the Gamblers came unglued.
Darris Kilgour was tossed for arguing a call, and then the parade to the penalty box began, including a five-minute penalty to Luke for a slash--he whacked Victoria's Neil Doddridge in the back of the neck.
But Victoria's offence was potent in the third and chased Watson from the goal at 12 - 7.
Halladay, Gait (3), Darren Reisig, named player of the match for his great two-way game, Tyson Leies and Tapp did the damage for Victoria and showed the visitors just what they're capable of when they get on track.
O'Neill kicked out 22 or 29 shots for the win, while Watson and Ryan Kells stopped 30 of 44.
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