North Stars are looking to flip the script as the OJBLL playoffs begin this weekend

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Riding a seven-game winning streak, the Owen Sound North Stars junior B team will look to do something that hasn’t been done since the Black Eyed Peas topped the charts: win a playoff series in the Ontario Junior B Ontario Lacrosse League .

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The North Stars open their first round series with the Hamilton Bengals on Saturday in Hamilton. The teams return to Owen Sound for Game 2 at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Center on Sunday from 5pm

The year was 2009, the last time the N’Stars advanced past the first round of the postseason.

“Isn’t that insane to think about?” N’Stars GM Ethan Woods said this on Wednesday. “Look at it this way, our oldest players were six years old at the time. . . our coaches were now on that team.

That’s more than a decade that Owen Sound sweated through a 20-game regular season before being bounced from the best-of-five playoff competition if it qualified.

That’s something Woods said he planned to change as team manager even before the season started, when the general manager drove the cars around the local community and raised enough money to renovate the team’s locker room.

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Woods said at the time that he wanted Owen Sound lacrosse players to be proud to wear the North Stars jersey and represent their home region.

“The team culture is not something we can change overnight, but it is moving in the right direction and continues to grow,” Woods said. “I think our kids have the right mentality now. They play as one.”

Just halfway through the regular season, Owen Sound was playing to a 6-7 record and seemed destined for another pedestrian campaign. But as soon as the calendar turned to June, the team rose to the best record in the era of Internet records, winning seven games in a row to finish 13-7.

After being crushed 20-4 by the Bengals earlier this season, the North Stars defeated the Steel City squad 8-7 on June 15 to split the regular season series.

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Now the No. 4 seed Bengals and No. 5 seed North Stars will meet at least three more games.

There are plenty of storylines to follow. It is the only first round series to pit two 100-point scorers against each other.

Hamilton’s Curtis Ward finished the year with 52 goals and 55 assists, while North Stars captain Carter Moran scored 37 goals and added 63 helpers.

The Bengals finished the regular season as one of the better offensive teams in the OJBLL with 223 goals in 20 games, the third-best mark in the Western Conference. Owen Sound were one of the better teams in the competition and benefited from the power play in the regular season, with 51 man advantage marks.

“We’re very athletic, so we’re going to try to push the ball in transition. It’s going to be a long series. I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes to the extreme,” Woods said. “If you give those guys time and space, it will end up in the back of the net.”

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Hamilton deserved home advantage because of the mutual goal difference. That 20-4 loss haunted Owen Sound again, but Woods said his team is healthy and ready to change the North Stars’ narrative.

“It’s clear and simple: we have to win at least one game in Hamilton,” Woods said. “I think playoff lacrosse fits our team’s style of play.”

That style? Hard nose and difficult to play against. The North Stars finished the year with a whopping 589 penalty minutes compared to Hamilton’s 277.

The Bayshore Bullies are ready for a fight.

“We are very physical. Our players care about each other, so we’re not afraid to stand up for each other,” Woods said.

SCHEME

Game 1: Sat. June 22 – Owen Sound in Hamilton, 4pm
Game 2: Sun. June 23 – Hamilton at Owen Sound, 5pm
Game 3: Thursday. June 27 – Owen Sound in Hamilton, 8 p.m
*Game 4: Sat. June 29 – Hamilton at Owen Sound, 2 p.m
*Game 5: Like this. June 30 – Owen Sound in Hamilton, 2 p.m

* If necessary

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