National Junior Rankings: July 27, 2023
Joey Spallina, Orangeville Northmen (Photo: Dave Fryer)
During the 2023 Canadian junior seasons, The Lax Mag will publish our National Junior Rankings, a weekly rundown of all 23 A-level teams across the country. The opening edition will begin on June 7 with future rankings published in the middle of every week (date dependent on league schedule for that week) until the start of the Minto Cup.
The rankings will include the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL), British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League (BCJALL) and Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL).
The Lax Mag’s rankings will position teams based not only by overall record, but also the strength of their opposition and the quality of their results - win, lose or draw.
You’d think at some point this season they still-undefeated Orangeville Northmen would show some signs of slowing down, even just to refuel for their run at the 2023 Minto Cup. You could argue that might have happened during the first week of July, where they had some close contests against mostly non-playoff opponents, but even then, they continued to win and conquer their Ontario opposition.
They are three games into their semi-final series against the Toronto Beaches, who were arguably the second-hottest team in the country at the end of the regular season and into the first round of the OJLL’s playoffs. The Beaches have had leads, scored critical game-tying goals, and have most definitely had their moments, but over 60 minutes, it seems nearly impossible to have more than mere moments against Orangeville. The Northmen continue to simply wear down and overpower their opponents with skills, speed, smarts and a non-cocky swagger that has every single player believing in their process and their ability to win every time their feet touch the floor.
Including Orangeville, there are nine teams left competing for a spot in this year’s Minto Cup in Edmonton, Alberta (August 20-27). We recently lost the Saskatchewan SWAT, who were swept by the Edmonton Miners soon after they were awarded their only two wins of the season. The RMLL reversed two late-season decisions between the two teams after the Miners used ineligible players in those wins.
With Edmonton already in as hosts of this year’s Minto, the RMLL’s semifinal between the Raiders Lacrosse Club & Calgary Mountaineers has a bit of a finals feel, with the winner also moving onto the Minto as the league’s second entry, again, due to the league’s host status. The Raiders are up 3-2 in what’s been one of the more thrilling series so far this summer.
In British Columbia, the Coquitlam Adanacs & Victoria Shamrocks are essentially now in a best-of-five series after the teams split the first two games of the BCJALL Finals. As pointed out in our Clutch Kings post from earlier this week, both Western finalists are getting strong playoff performances from their late-season additions. Like the Raiders/Mounties series, the feeling is this one could go either way.
National Junior Rankings: July 27, 2023
1. (1) Orangeville Northmen (OJLL) 20-0 (6-0)
2. (2) Coquitlam Adanacs (BCJALL) 18-3 (4-1)
3. (3) Burlington Blaze (OJLL) 14-6 (5-1)
4. (4) Victoria Shamrocks (BCJALL) 15-6 (4-1)
5. (7) Mimico Mountaineers (OJLL) 13-7 (4-2)
6. (5) Edmonton Miners (RMLL) 10-5 (4-0)
7. (8) Raiders Lacrosse Club (RMLL) 10-5 (3-2)
8. (6) Toronto Beaches (OJLL) 12-8 (3-4)
9. (10) Calgary Mountaineers (RMLL) 7-7-1 (2-3)
10. (9) Nanaimo Timbermen (BCJALL) 14-7 (0-3)*
11. (9) Oakville Buzz (OJLL) 13-7 (1-3)*
12. (12) Whitby Warriors (OJLL) 9-11 (0-3)*
13. (15) St. Catharines Athletics (OJLL) 8-13 (0-3)*
14. (13) Port Coquitlam Saints (BCJALL) 10-10-1 (0-3)*
15. (14) Six Nations Arrows (OJLL) 7-13 (0-3)*
16. (13) Brampton Excelsiors (OJLL) 7-13*
17. (17) Burnaby Lakers (BCJALL) 9-12*
18. (18) New Westminster Salmonbellies (BCJALL) 6-15*
19. (19) Delta Islanders (BCJALL) 6-15*
20. (21) Kitchener-Waterloo Lacrosse Club (OJLL) 3-17*
21. (20) Peterborough Lakers (OJLL) 4-16*
22. (22) Langley Thunder (BCJALL) 5-15-1*
23. (23) Saskatchewan SWAT (RMLL) 2-12-1 (0-4)*