Junior B call-up making the most of audition with A’s
Sam LeClair collects three points as Athletics win home opener
Sam LeClair is having a good week pouring in goals from both ends of the junior lacrosse talent pipeline in St. Catharines.
After scoring four goals and collecting seven assists for a game-high 11 points for the junior B Spartans on Sunday, he was back on the floor three nights later netting two goals and adding an assist for the Athletics, the city’s junior A team.
Last night the 19-year-old Welland native was back in the Spartans lineup for their home game against the Niagara Thunderhawks at Thorold Community Arenas.
LeClair and Spartans teammate Connor Aquanno were called up from junior B to fill in for such veterans as Alex Simmons who have yet to return for another season with the Athletics.
With Jake McNabb, Carter Zavitz and Simmons all proven scorers from the right side, LeClair knows he’s the casualty of a numbers game when it comes to getting playing them with the junior A team.
However, the first-year sociology major at Brock University doesn’t feel like a victim. Nor has he been playing like one.
“I’m just playing both right now trying to earn a spot.”
LeClair, who played one game with the top club last season, has been with the Athletics since the beginning of training camp this season.
“Every single guy here has treated me like a teammate right away. They’re great guys,” he said. “I am having tons of fun.”
Transition to junior A from junior B has been seamless for LeClair, thanks to his teammates on the Athletics.
“When you have guys who can move the ball, it’s fun out there. We’re just playing lacrosse,” the Notre Dame College School graduate said.
LeClair, who played two seasons with the junior B Welland Generals before joining the Spartans before the start of the 2018 campaign, said practising and playing up with the A’s can’t help but improve all facets of his game.
“The ball is really crisp. It’s flying out there,” he said. “The O (offence) is really strong.
“I’m learning a lot from the older guys.”
There is no letdown for LeClair when he goes back to junior B and suits up for the Spartans.
“No, all the stuff that I absorb while I’m here I pass on to the young guys coming up in junior B, the 16- and 17-year-olds,” he said. “It’s just stepping stones, and they’re going to be up here, too.”
In the fall LeClair returns for a
second season on the men’s field lacrosse team at Brock. He doesn’t find much difference between the indoor and outdoor versions of Canada’s national summer game.
“Not too much, just spacing and cardio. It’s a lot of running, but lacrosse is lacrosse,” he said. “I’m just out there having fun.”
Athletics head coach Steve Toll said the junior A team is blessed to have the Spartans a phone call away, right down the road.
“And the problem is they’re feeding us great players, too,” he said with a chuckle. “We’re missing two key players, but when you have players like Sammy and those guys who are filling in nicely.
“That’s all we can ask from those guys. Obviously, they want to play junior A and right now we’re just so deep, it’s hard to find them a spot.”
A logjam of veteran talent on the A’s offence has left LeClair as the odd man out.
“Realistically with Sammy, it’s just bad luck having McNabb, Simmons, Zavitz on the right side. All three guys that can score like him,” Toll said. “So it’s just a tough break that way, but he’s right there, and he’ll be playing lots for sure.”
LeClair hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and work in law enforcement after he graduates from Brock. Rod LeClair is with Ontario Provincial Police.
The welcome mat stopped far short of the crease Wednesday night when the Athletics hosted the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves in their home opener at Jack Gatecliff Arena.
The A’s limited their visitors to only 39 shots on net and, thanks in large part to yet another star turn in goal by Nick Damude, improved to 3-0 with a 7-4 victory.
Along with a stingy Athletics defence, Damude also was instrumental in an 11-4 victory over the Brampton Excelsiors in the season opener as well as a 9-5 win against the Six Nations Arrows.
Like his team, Damude improved to 3-0. He lowered his goals-against average to 4.33 while improving his save percentage to .847.
Tyler Brown, Jake McNabb and LeClair, with two goals each, and Kealon Pilon scored for the A’s.
Scott DelZotto, with two, Andrew Borgatti and Trent DiCiccio replied for Kitchener-Waterloo, 0-2.
Shots on net were 44-39 in favour of St. Catharines.
Both teams finished the game 0-for-3 on the power play.
The A’s are back in action Saturday when they host the Burlington Chiefs in a 7 p.m. start at The Jack.