Team earns home floor throughout playoffs

From www.durhamregion.com by Shawn Cayley

WHITBY — The Brooklin Redmen had a plan Wednesday night and executed it to perfection.

With the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks visiting the Iroquois Park Sports Centre for the Major Series Lacrosse season finale, all the Redmen needed to lock up first place in the standings and home-floor advantage throughout the playoffs was a win against the league’s second-worst team.

While those games can sometimes trap a team and cause them to play down a little, the Redmen did just the opposite for most of the night, building a 4-1 first period lead, upping it to 9-1 in the second before hitting cruise control in an eventual 12-6 victory.

Finishing first, said star Shawn Williams, validates the belief the Redmen had in themselves all season long to be among the top teams in the league.

“Without a doubt. The biggest thing, and everyone says it, but we believed in this room,” he said after scoring four goals and six points in the victory. “We were the one’s that thought we could do it and we did it. Obviously everyone is going to say that, but it really was a feeling.”

Having said that, however, despite the fact they’ve finished first and earned the first-round bye, Williams was adamant that the Redmen still have a long way to go come playoff time.

A previous Mann Cup winner, Williams knows full-well the game changes when the stakes are upped.

“We’re not thinking like we’re contenders. We have to earn our keep,” he said simply. “The Peterboroughs of the world, the Bramptons of the world, they are still there for a reason. Regular season is one thing, but it’s when there’s a seven-game series and everything is on the line, that’s where we’ll see.”

Read the entire article: http://www.durhamregion.com/sports/article/1414816–brooklin-redmen-clinch-first-place-in-major-series-lacrosse