North Stars win home opener in OT

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Family bonds, good friends and familiar faces may have helped the Owen Sound North Stars win their home opener Saturday night.

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The N’Stars topped the Brooklin Merchants 12-11 in overtime inside the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre with plenty of Scenic City locals in the lineup, including starting goaltender Ethan Woods and first-year head coach Adam Jones.

Jones decided to start Woods in the team’s first game in front of the hometown crowd. Prior to Saturday’s contest, Woods played back-up to newly acquired goaltender Craig Wende.

“It was nice for him to have that chance to play here in front of family and friends,” Jones said. “I was nervous for him today, to be honest. I’ve been thinking about it all week.”

Playing his first game back in Owen Sound and in front of his six-month-old daughter, Woods earned the team’s orange hard hat as the player of the game and was instrumental in the overtime period as the North Stars surged out to a two-goal lead, enough to secure the win with a solid performance by the goaltender.

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“Some of these guys I’ve been playing with my entire life so it’s nice to play with them again. It feels great to get the first win out of the way,” Woods said. “Once we got the two-goal lead I kind of took it upon myself to close it down at the end.”

With the win, the North Stars improved to 3-1 early in the Ontario Series Lacrosse campaign, their only loss coming against the league-leading Six Nations Rivermen.

“If we can get buy-in from everyone and keep building toward the playoffs I think we’ll be right there. There’s a lot of belief in our group. It’s Presidents Cup or bust for us this year,” Woods said.

Saturday’s game was a neck-and-neck affair with neither team taking control for long. Owen Sound led for most of the game, but never by more than two goals and never with any sense of comfort.

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Brooklin took the lead in the second period before Tanner Buck netted a natural hat-trick to put Owen Sound back on top. In the third period, Owen Sound took a 10-8 lead with just over 14 minutes left to play but allowed Brooklin back into the game by offering up back-to-back power-play goals. The Merchants netted three power-play goals in the third period.

“It’s tough. I wish I was out there. I see little mistakes guys do, but then I think back to when I was playing and think about what I would want to hear from the coach. I think about it from the player’s perspective,” Jones said about his transition behind the bench after a long career in the National Lacrosse League.

N’Stars veteran Mike MacLeod drew a holding penalty in the dying minutes of regulation to set up Owen Sound with a power play in overtime.

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Jordan Caskenette converted with the extra man to put Owen Sound up 11-10 just over a minute into the 10-minute extra frame.

Less than two minutes later Patrick Saunders scored to make it 12-10 — a goal that proved to be the game’s winner as Zac Carrigan scored late for Brooklin.

Woods shut the door from there.

Jake McNabb, the league’s reigning scoring champ, led all North Stars with three goals and four assists. Buck added three markers and three helpers while Pat Saunders scored twice. Brody Caskenette scored his first Ontario Series Lacrosse goal and added two helpers to finish with the same stat line as his brother Jordan. Mike Fiegehen and Wyatt Barfoot added tallies for Owen Sound.

Carrigan led the way for Brooklin with four goals and three assists. Devin Pipher, who entered the contest as the league’s top scorer, netted a goal and added five assists.

Luke Coote took the loss in the Merchants’ net.

Next, the North Stars host the Six Nations Rivermen at home on Saturday, May 27. Game time inside the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre is set for 7 p.m.