Five Orillia squads pick up medals at Boyd Balkwill Memorial Lacrosse Tournament, News, Midget, Rep Box Teams, 2015, BR (Orillia Minor Lacrosse)

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Jun 23, 2015 | dkeddy | 1739 views
Five Orillia squads pick up medals at Boyd Balkwill Memorial Lacrosse Tournament
Change text size for the storyPrintReport an error A pair of Orillia teams struck gold, two won silver medals and one earned a bronze at this weekend's Boyd Balkwill Memorial Lacrosse Tournament.

The Orillia tyke squad went undefeated, rallying on two separate occasions from sizable deficits en route to capturing the championship trophy. For coach Scott Balkwill -- the tournament is named in memory of his grandfather, who helped found minor lacrosse -- sharing the championship with his son, who plays on the team, and his father, who helps coach, was a special Father's Day memory.

"I definitely think that was the best lacrosse we played all year," said Balkwill. "The kids played really well and kind of rallied around having all the fans in the arena and playing in their hometown."

Backstopped by stellar goaltending from Austin Penna, the aggressive Orillia tykes exhibited excellent ball movement in opening the tournament Friday night with a narrow win over Clarington. Saturday morning, Penna shone again as the home side rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to defeat a bigger, more physical team from Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Sunday morning, the Kings overcame another early deficit to defeat Oshawa and punch their ticket to the gold-medal game against Barrie. Orillia saved its best for last, earning the title with a convincing 11-5 win.

"The kids were ferocious on loose balls, put a lot of pressure on Barrie, forced a lot of turnovers "¦ It was an outstanding effort," said Balkwill, who noted his team was selfless, often choosing to pass when many of their age prefer to shoot. "I think because they knew it was our tournament, the arena was pretty full and they could look up and see fans cheering them on, they really hustled. I was proud of them."

The KRS Crane midget squad also garnered gold at the three-day tournament that attracted 27 teams to the city. The Orillia entry salvaged a 6-6 draw in a penalty-filled tournament-opening game against Brantford Friday night at Rotary Place. The two teams amassed more than 80 minutes in penalties in a contest that "got a little bit out of hand," said coach Darryll Black.

Saturday morning, the Kings came out flat and Huntsville took advantage, recording an 8-3 triumph. Captain Kole Scott scored all three Orillia goals.

"It was not a very good effort. We did not play well," said Black. "We talked after that game about the level of effort and the boys really responded."

The Kings discovered if they beat Barrie in the semis -- and if Brantford beat Huntsville -- they would earn a berth in the gold-medal game. Orillia received excellent goaltending from Logan Matthews and used a balanced scoring attack to defeat Barrie 6-4 -- a morale booster for Orillia, which had lost twice to its southern rival earlier this season.

"The kids showed some heart and character coming back with a much better effort," said Black. "We're not the type of team that's going to blow people out, but we're a hard-working team and when we work hard for the whole game, we have a chance to win."

The victory set up a rematch against Brantford for the gold medal. This time, the Kings kept their cool, Ashtyn Vernon scored two key goals, OHL draft pick Tyler Burnie netted a hat trick, Matthews was strong in net and Orillia's Kings were crowned tournament champs.

"It was a picture-perfect lacrosse game from start to finish," said Black. "(Matthews) stood tall in net, we had good team defence, Vernon scored two really big goals from the defence "¦ It was an excellent effort."

Black credited Taylor Stinson and Brett Castellani for strong defensive efforts and said for some players, such as Vernon, Burnie and Scott, winning the tournament was special because it's their final year of minor lacrosse.

"You want to go out on top and I would say the older kids really led the way," said Black, who played in the tournament more than two decades ago. "I think we're getting better every week, we're learning from our mistakes and we're playing the right way."

Orillia's peewee entry lost a heartbreaking game to a strong Sudbury team in overtime to settle for silver, while the local bantam squad also snagged silver. The local novices netted a bronze.

"Our teams were all super-competitive this weekend, which is great," said Dave Marwick, the tournament convener who also coached the peewee team. "I think we were pleasantly surprised with how well everyone did this weekend."

He said the tournament is part of Orillia's rich lacrosse heritage.

"I was on a team that won it long ago, I helped coach a team that won it last year and we were close this year," he said. "For me, it's fun and when we break out the trophies at our banquet, a lot of kids look at those trophies and see names of kids that went on to play junior or are coaching now and they're recognizing that there's a lot of history in Orillia when it comes to lacrosse. It's special."

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