Bandits’ short bench not enough against Brantford

June 20, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte
Two more losses on the road this weekend have widened the gap between the Caledon Bandits and the rest of the East division of the Ontario Junior C Lacrosse League.
A short bench certainly played a role in Friday’s 13-6 loss to the Brantford Jr. Warriors, with the Bandits missing four of their top six leading scorers in Jordan Oshowy, Austin Heughan, Josh MacIsaac and Austin Pope.
Facing a streaking Brantford squad with all of their top firepower available, their top line of Caleb Wells, Austin Giles and Jayden Drage combined for a total of 13 points in the contest. Six Brantford shots found their way past the Caledon defence and goaltender Jeremy Outopoulos in the first 14 minutes, with the Bandits never able to recover despite an evenly-played remaining two periods.
Jonathan Ferguson, who is enjoying a breakout year with the Bandits, stepped up in the absence of his teammates in securing a goal and three assists, while Robert Cristello and Darcy Tainsh each had a pair of points in the loss.
The winless streak continued into Sunday’s road game against the Wilmot Wild, with MacIsaac the only returning absentee.
Caledon managed just one goal a period, while Wilmot fired an onslaught of shots at the Caledon net in a 22-3 loss.
Spencer Wood found twine twice, with Dimitri Meszaros adding the third.
Meanwhile, the Halton Hills Bulldogs have managed wins in two of their last four, including a win over the Bandits last week, pulling farther away from the winless Bandits.
Eleven games into the season, Caledon sits six points back of the Bulldogs, and 11 points back of their next closest division rivals the Mimico Mountaineers.
Less than two weeks remain on the regular season schedule, the Bandits next seeing action tomorrow (Friday) when they visit the Fergus Thistles (7-3-0) at Centre Wellington. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.
They return home to Caledon East Arena Tuesday to host the league-leading Six Nations Warriors (10-2-0).
For stats and schedules, visit www.banditslacrosse.com/jrc