Clippers captain sets club scoring record
Captain Andrew Garant is now No. 1 for the Windsor Clippers, with room to extend his lead.
The 21-year-old Garant’s eightpoint performance in Tuesday’s 20-7 win over Wallaceburg pushed the club’s lacrosse captain to the top of the team’s all-time scoring list with 498 career points, passing the 493 total of Logan Holmes.
“It’s a big one considering I played with Logan so long,” Garant said. “Brett Hickey (No. 3 with 418 points), I never imagined passing him. I grew up watching him all those years. He’s a guy I still look up to and tons of names up there, and it’s sweet to be on top.”
The young Windsor team has relied on Garant to be a leader on the floor, on the scoresheet and in the dressing room.
“He’s in on everything,” Clippers general manager Mike Soulliere said. “Him being captain, he’s an excellent leader and he certainly leads by example and doesn’t expect any less from anyone else. He’s one of a kind as far as an energy guy.”
The 5-10, 175-pound Garant leads the Ontario Lacrosse Association Junior B league in scoring with 127 points in 18 games. That puts him 24 points ahead of teammate Chase Kavanaugh, who is second in league scoring.
With two games left in the regular season, Garant is not only poised to become the Clippers’ third league scoring champ in four seasons, but also the team’s first 500-career point man.
“I’ve never seen anyone outwork this kid,” Soulliere said. “He just works at this craft non-stop. He’s like the Energizer Bunny, he just goes and goes and not just on the floor, but he’s a tireless worker for the club off the floor.”
He’ll play his final regular season home game Thursday against Point Edward at Forest Glade Arena and still has an outside shot of breaking Holmes’ single-season club points record of 145. But his goal remains a championship ring.
“Coming off a 108-point season last year, I knew going into the season it was something I could possibly do, but it wasn’t my first goal,” Holmes said. “I wanted to be a leader for the team and to win. A ring would be nice. A championship. That’s our goal every year. We’ve had a couple of tough losses and a lot of good bounce-back games. (Tuesday) was a huge win. If we win out, we have home-floor advantage (for the playoffs) and win the division.”