VS.
Newmarket Saints Vs. Halton Hills Bulldogs -
Eastern Conference Playoffs Round One Preview
By Jake Dobson "Voice of the Saints"
The Newmarket Saints and Halton Hills Bulldogs are set to match up in the first round of the playoffs. Dates have not yet been released but its never too early to start breaking down the match up. The Bulldogs managed one more win in the regular season than the Saints did and will have home floor advantage in the best of five series. The teams met on May 3 with Halton Hills winning 9 - 7 at home, but both teams have changed so much since then that this game does not help determine an advantage. The teams look very close on paper and it will come down to the little things as this looks like it is going to be a battle. The Saints have the talent and intangibles to beat the Bulldogs and can advance if they are the harder working club.
Offense
The Bulldogs will rely on their offense as they did all season. Halton Hills scored 11.2 goals per game vs. Newmarket’s 9.4. Newmarket will rely on Patty Lee (99 pts), Shawn Beer (72pts) and Jacob Donato (30 goals) for their primary offense. Halton Hills relies on Pat Saunders (54 goals), Nic Grasby (74pts), and Kyle Davis (54pts) to provide most of their scoring. Both teams have very reliable secondary scorers and that is often the difference in a playoff series. Although Halton Hills averages one more goal per game than Newmarket this is not enough to determine a clear advantage going into this series.
Patty vs. Patty
This series is so close going in that both teams even have a star player named Patty who leads their team in scoring. Final regular season scoring totals are still being calculated but as it stands now Patty Saunders of Halton has 102 points and “Primetime” Patty Lee has 99. These two players are number one and two in Eastern Conference scoring and will be a focal part of both teams game plans. Saunders is a goal scorer as he scored 57 goals this year while Lee is a play maker recording a league leading 74 assists. Only three players in the East had more points than Lee had assists. Patty Lee has been the most productive player in the East in the second half of the season.
Defense
This is playoff Lacrosse and defense wins championships. Not surprisingly this is another category that looks virtually even going into this series. Newmarket allowed 134 goals this year while Halton allowed 137. The defensive match up looks too even to determine an advantage and it will come down to hard work. The guys on the defensive end of the floor do not get too much glory but playoff victories are why people sign up to play defense. The Saints have just the guys that can stand strong and work together to get the job done and were able to limit Pat Saunders in the second half of the only regular season match up.
Goaltending
This is the most important position on the floor and this series looks so close it will probably come down to the team that gets the best performance in net. At this time it is unclear who Newmarket will turn to or if they will even turn to just one guy. All year the keepers have split the playing time and the Saints have won with both guys. Adam Miles comes into the playoffs hotter than Jordan Rothery, but Rothery has played very well against the best teams in the League this year. Miles has a GAA of 5.52 while Rothery has an average of 7.72 goals allowed per game. Coach Wilfong might not let the boys know who plays in game one until just before the game to keep both guys focussed. For Halton Hills it will be Michael Cregan who played in 15 games this year, going 10 - 5 with a 7.01 GAA.
This series is going to be very interesting as both teams are so close to one another in virtually every category. The playoffs are all about desire and sacrifice and the Newmarket Saints have the ability to be a very good playoff team. All season the Saints have worked extremely hard in practice and have been committed to making the playoffs. Now that they are in the dance it is time to see what these guys are really made of.
Check back soon as game dates will be published as soon as possible.
GO SAINTS GO
Eastern Conference Playoffs Round One Preview
By Jake Dobson "Voice of the Saints"
The Newmarket Saints and Halton Hills Bulldogs are set to match up in the first round of the playoffs. Dates have not yet been released but its never too early to start breaking down the match up. The Bulldogs managed one more win in the regular season than the Saints did and will have home floor advantage in the best of five series. The teams met on May 3 with Halton Hills winning 9 - 7 at home, but both teams have changed so much since then that this game does not help determine an advantage. The teams look very close on paper and it will come down to the little things as this looks like it is going to be a battle. The Saints have the talent and intangibles to beat the Bulldogs and can advance if they are the harder working club.
Offense
The Bulldogs will rely on their offense as they did all season. Halton Hills scored 11.2 goals per game vs. Newmarket’s 9.4. Newmarket will rely on Patty Lee (99 pts), Shawn Beer (72pts) and Jacob Donato (30 goals) for their primary offense. Halton Hills relies on Pat Saunders (54 goals), Nic Grasby (74pts), and Kyle Davis (54pts) to provide most of their scoring. Both teams have very reliable secondary scorers and that is often the difference in a playoff series. Although Halton Hills averages one more goal per game than Newmarket this is not enough to determine a clear advantage going into this series.
Patty vs. Patty
This series is so close going in that both teams even have a star player named Patty who leads their team in scoring. Final regular season scoring totals are still being calculated but as it stands now Patty Saunders of Halton has 102 points and “Primetime” Patty Lee has 99. These two players are number one and two in Eastern Conference scoring and will be a focal part of both teams game plans. Saunders is a goal scorer as he scored 57 goals this year while Lee is a play maker recording a league leading 74 assists. Only three players in the East had more points than Lee had assists. Patty Lee has been the most productive player in the East in the second half of the season.
Defense
This is playoff Lacrosse and defense wins championships. Not surprisingly this is another category that looks virtually even going into this series. Newmarket allowed 134 goals this year while Halton allowed 137. The defensive match up looks too even to determine an advantage and it will come down to hard work. The guys on the defensive end of the floor do not get too much glory but playoff victories are why people sign up to play defense. The Saints have just the guys that can stand strong and work together to get the job done and were able to limit Pat Saunders in the second half of the only regular season match up.
Goaltending
This is the most important position on the floor and this series looks so close it will probably come down to the team that gets the best performance in net. At this time it is unclear who Newmarket will turn to or if they will even turn to just one guy. All year the keepers have split the playing time and the Saints have won with both guys. Adam Miles comes into the playoffs hotter than Jordan Rothery, but Rothery has played very well against the best teams in the League this year. Miles has a GAA of 5.52 while Rothery has an average of 7.72 goals allowed per game. Coach Wilfong might not let the boys know who plays in game one until just before the game to keep both guys focussed. For Halton Hills it will be Michael Cregan who played in 15 games this year, going 10 - 5 with a 7.01 GAA.
This series is going to be very interesting as both teams are so close to one another in virtually every category. The playoffs are all about desire and sacrifice and the Newmarket Saints have the ability to be a very good playoff team. All season the Saints have worked extremely hard in practice and have been committed to making the playoffs. Now that they are in the dance it is time to see what these guys are really made of.
Check back soon as game dates will be published as soon as possible.
GO SAINTS GO
