Red Devils Win Opener, See Photos

The Wallaceburg Red Devils kicked off their 2014 Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League season with an 11-8 win over the Point Edward Pacers on the road.

I was pretty happy with our boys today,” said head coach Jamie Knight after the game. “I thought they played extremely hard, but we had them down and let them hang around.”

Wallaceburg led at one point 10-3, before Point Edward staged a comeback, however, the Red Devils, paced by Jordan Durston and Mike Myers got a win in their opening game. Durston had 5 goals and 3 assists, while Myers had 3 goals and 5 assists in the win.

“Today I thought we looked pretty good for it being our first game,” said Durston, who was last seasons league offensive MVP before finishing the season playing Junior A. “We had a lot of rookies in our lineup, including our starting goalie, but I thought all the boys played well,” added Durston, who said the team’s key to success was out running the Pacers, and playing withe more intensity than their opponent. Rookie netminder Noble Jacobs stopped 46 shots in the win for Wallaceburg.

The Red Devils’ lineup, which also received goals from Ryan Noel, Evan Mathany, and Hannibal Roda Sunday, looks to be youthful this season, but if their opening game is any indication, Wallaceburg won’t struggle due to their inexperience.

“We have a lot of young kids on this team that are eager to learn and they bring a real good energy,” said Knight. “Today we AP’d three midgets into our lineup as well and they played significant minutes. So it’s a win win for us not only for this season, but for the future of this organization.”

The Red Devils however, aren’t relying completely on youth, as their lineup is also speckled with veteran faces including Jordan Durston, Mike Myers, and captain Joel Shepley.

“I thought today we played a good team game,” said Shepley after Wallaceburg’s opening win. “Noble made the saves when he had to, our defence created a lot of turnovers and made some big stops in the final five minutes. Our offence moved the ball well and capitalized on a lot of our powerplay chances,” added Shepley.

The whole team however, realizes they are only one game into the season, and have three games, including two at home, in the coming week.

“To be back on the floor was awesome,” said Shepley. “We’ve all been anticipating this day for a while now and it’s nice we could come out with the win.”

Wallaceburg travels to Six Nations Thursday before hosting Guelph and Brampton for back to back games this weekend in Wallaceburg.

“We are really excited for our home opening weekend and look to provide some exciting lacrosse for our fans to be a part of,” said coach Knight. Wallaceburg’s first home game is Saturday, May 3, at 4pm against Guelph.

All photos by Jocelyn McLaughlin: