Clippers hope history repeats itself against Northmen
The Windsor Clippers have been down this road before.
A year ago, the Clippers shook off a sloppy performance in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals against the Orangeville Northmen to win the best-of-five Ontario Lacrosse Association junior B series.
On Friday, the Clippers dropped the series opener 12-6 in Orangeville and now look to turn things around on Monday when Game 2 of the series goes at Forest Glade Arena at 8 p.m.
“There’s pressure every game,” Windsor’s Noah Bushnell said. “Your season depends one game at a time. Don’t look at a series because momentum doesn’t carry over in lacrosse. It’s one game at a time. We have a game on Monday. I don’t care about (Game 3 on) Thursday. I only care about Monday.”
After an emotional win over Wallaceburg in the first round of the playoffs, the Clippers face a far different opponent in the second round in the Northmen.
“There was so much emotion against Wallaceburg and none here,” Clippers head coach Jerry Kavanaugh said. “They (the Northmen) just go about their business. The have good players and good coaches.”
The Clippers had the secondmost productive offence in the league during the regular season, but are up against an Orangeville team that had the league’s toprated defence.
“Our offence has to be better than it was,” Kavanaugh said in reference to the opener. “They’ve been the best defence in the league for a while and there’s not the time and the space there was against Wallaceburg.
“It’s a high-pressure defence and really aggressive. We have to find a way to get inside more.”
Kavanaugh also wants his team to be a little more engaged in the action and that should change with the return of the 20-year-old Bushnell to the lineup after he missed the opener with a foot injury. He was fourth in team scoring during the regular season with 25 goals and 63 points in 16 games and led the team with 91 penalty minutes.
A five-game series can fly by quickly and a loss Monday would have the Clippers facing elimination on Thursday in Orangeville.