By REJEAN CANTLON

When the Mimico Mountaineers secured top spot in the 2022 regular season of the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL), the team had their eyes clearly focused on moving deep into the playoffs. Having said that, getting there was no easy feat.

The boys closed out the last few games with three straight one-goal wins against some formidable opponents in Whitby, Orangeville and Oakville, all also playoff-bound.

Over the course of the season Mimico seemed destined to make a run for the Minto Cup with an impressive 16-4 record.

They had 2 of the Top 5 scorers with Finlay Thomson leading the league with 124 points (52 goals/72 assists) and Carson Moyer with 89 points (46 goals/43 assists) in 20 games.

In addition, the Mountaineers were stacked with 12 graduating 21-year-olds. Jr A lacrosse teams are comprised of players 17-21 years old.

In the first round of the playoffs, #1 Mimico was set to face-off against #8 Burlington Chiefs. During the regular season, of the 4 Mimico losses, two of them came from the sticks of the Chiefs who finished 10-10.

Our Mimico players certainly had their work cut out for them. Even with home floor advantage in game 1, Burlington shuttered the 1^st place team 12-9 in the best of five series at the Drummond Street Bowl (Mimico Arena).

In game 2, Burlington continued their winning ways with a 14-11 victory. In game 3, back in Mimico, in front of a capacity crowd of 600-800 fans, the Mountaineers succumbed to a 11-10 defeat despite a valiant yet disappointing effort.

The last time an #8 seeded team beat a #1 was in 2018 when the Toronto Beaches eliminated Burlington 3-2 and the last time a #1 was swept in the 1^st round was back in 1956 when Brampton smoked St. Catharines 3-0.