2 Wins to Start 2017 for the Celtics

So with 4 points, some bumps and bruises and a ton of penalty filled periods, the 2017 Cornwall Celtics season has officially begun.

On Saturday, the Caledon Bandits came to town for a double header weekend. Though the Bandits play in the Western Conference of Ontario's Junior C Lacrosse League, this year will see 2 cross over games for each team in the East Conference in order to even out the schedule.

The Bandits saw some early success on Saturday jumping out to a 3-2 lead in the first period, but from there on, it was all Celtics. Tyler Akins led the Celtics offensively with 5 goals and 3 assists, while rookie Justin Boots had a great first game scoring 2 goals and marking 3 helpers. Logan Ransom picked up the win in net with what would be described as a rock-solid effort between the pipes. The spirited affair also saw Cash Mitchell square off with an over-zealous Bandit in an old-time tilt for the ages. Somehow, out of the ashes arose a bogus call by the referees which will have only the Cornwall player seeing suspension time.

On Sunday, it was more of the same, except for the Caledon lead. In this match, Cornwall jumped out to an 8-0 lead to finish the first period before Caledon marked their first bingo to start the second. Again, Akins led the Celtics offensively exploding for 5 goals and 10 assists. Quebec product William Beauvais was lights out in the affair before sustaining injury early in the third period recording 3 goals and 6 assists. Kolten Oakes-Cook was effective with 3 goals and 2 assists, and one of the team's leaders Ryan Thomas marked 4 goals and an assist. Picking up the win between the pipes was newcomer Ben Gagnier, recently picked up in a trade from the Gloucester Griffins. Again, the game saw a tussle, this time between Ryan Vipond and a willing combatant, and again, the Celtics player alone will be the only to see suspension.

"Aside from all the offence, our coaching staff really couldn't say enough about the efforts of our defensive unit." Said coach Mike Dube. "The guys played short-handed Saturday and had to battle through a complete gong show on Sunday with all of the penalties and 2-man down situations. They truly stood out to us."

Gong show might be the appropriate term for Sunday's game where one referee seemed to let the teams play and the other seemed to have a personal agenda going en route to a 160-penalty minute game.

"It's just unfortunate the player's have to deal with that. They pay a lot of money to play, they put in a lot of effort at practice to get better. When they don't know what they can or cannot do on the floor penalty wise, it makes the game really tough to play." Said Dube, who was ejected from the game. "We don't ever go looking for fights, and neither did the other team- when things become so frustrating for the guys on the floor, things bubble over."

Next up, the Celtics will see Whitby and Clarington on the road next weekend. Both huge early tests for a young Celtic team.