Impressive Win Sends Merchants to Ontario Finals

By Mark Stehlin

Last night the Merchants put on a masterful display in front of their home fans with a 14-5 win over the Hamilton Bengals to take the series three games to none. Next up, a date with the Six Nations Rivermen in the Ontario Series Lacrosse Finals.

The home side came out of the gate on a mission and rolled out to a 6-0 lead after the first twenty minutes. It was more of the same in the middle frame as the offense was on fire scoring five more to start the second and it was 11-0 with only a few minutes left before two late goals by the Bengals and it was 11-2 after forty minutes.

The visitors showed some pride and didn't want to go down without a fight. The final frame was 3-3 on the gamesheet but the end result was already set with a 14-5 win that sets up an Ontario final when the Merchants will face the Six Nations Rivermen. 

Ryan Degerdon said the message before the game was "for us to show the league and the country the kind of team we can be and that included putting on a full 60 minutes on the floor."

Defensive coach Mark Debrone added "when the offensive is buzzing like it did tonight, it lets the defensive guys go out, do their job and send the ball back up the floor and tonight it was a full-team effort."

Degerdon said "what I was looking for tonight was getting the rhythm going early on offense, moving the ball and our feet." He added "I knew that once we had the offense clicking the chances and the goals would come and that was shown at the end of the first and through the second when we turned it on."

Debrone added "with Deac playing so well in net, it was no surprise that we went out to such a large lead as he made some incredible saves out there."

Deacan Knott was named the Ontario Series Lacrosse (OSL) Most Valuable Player and Goaltender of the Year this week.  He joined Zach Higgins with the Brooklin Lacrosse Club who earned the same honour in Major Series Lacrosse. Higgins and Knott are teammates for the Philadelphia Wings in the National Lacrosse League.

- by Sam Hossack 

As for their next opponent Degerdon said "it's going to take the best of us to beat the best of them." "We need to be prepared and just like tonight, play a full 60 minutes. "

He added "we can't afford to get down on ourselves when they score, the way that happened the last time we met them, we have to get up and get out there again."

When asked about their OSL Coaching Staff of the Year Debrone said "we have an incredibly talented group down there and our job is to guide and get them on the same page." He added "our names on the trophy are great but we want to make sure we all get added to the big prize."

- by Sam Hossack 

Degerdon added "it's good to be recognized but I want to stress that we aren't here just for that, we are here for bigger things. We have always talked about a team-first approach and so we all deserve the praise when we do well."

Stay tuned to social media channels for finals schedule.