The Cobourg Kodiaks opened their Major Series Lacrosse season in front of 873 fans at the Cobourg Community Centre on Sunday, June 2, 2019 with a win over the Brooklin Lacrosse Club. Skeena Sea Cadets performed O Canada.
Before the game started, the Kodiaks recognized Eric Spagnolo who lost his battle with cancer last month.
Eric was described as a “super fan” to the team and the Kodiaks pay tribute to Eric.
Eric’s wife Lauren and son Logan took part in the ceremonial face-off.
The first period was fast paced with each team trying to establish a quick transition game. Kyle Killen scored first for Cobourg with a hard underhand shot from outside. Rookie Ben French scored his first MSL goal in the power play half way through the first.
After one period both teams were tied at four.
Mike Triolo opened the second period scoring for the Kodiaks, diving across the crease. Brooklin scored only once in the second period.
Another Kodiaks Rookie, Scott Dominey scored his first MSL goal. Dominey intercepted a pass in his own end and sprinted down to beat the Brooklin goalie, Zach Higgins.
The Kodiaks dominated the second period outscoring Brooklin 7-1, and after two periods, Cobourg led 11-5.
The third period saw Cobourg in cruise control and almost let Brooklin back into the game. Birthday boy, Kevin Orleman was stellar throughout the game however. When Brooklin seemed to gain some momentum, Orleman made some fantastic acrobatic saves to bring the crowd to their feet.
The final score was 13-9.
Top scorers,
Brooklin:
Connor Kearnan 2g, 2a
Reilly O’Connor 0g, 2a
Zach Higgins 0g, 3a
Cobourg:
Ben French 2g, 3a
Kyle Killen 3g, 1a
Cam Milligan 2g, 1a
Kevin Orleman 0g, 4a
The next game for Cobourg is on June 5th at the Iroquois Park Arena in a rematch with Brooklin at 8pm.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
