The St. Catharines Jr. B Athletics lacrosse club opens its playoff run this week.
The junior B Athletics finished in fifth place in the 13-team Western Conference standings with a (12-7-1) record and will face the fourth place (13-6-1) Cambridge Highlanders.
“The regular season was a roller coaster, lots of ups and downs,” said St. Catharines Head Coach Riley Hutchcraft when contacted by The Niagara Independent. “I thought my group responded well to the adversity that was thrown their way.”
If the two point differential in the standings wasn’t close enough, the only meeting head to head between St. Catharines and Cambridge produced a 9-9 tie earlier this month.
“I think Cambridge is a good team who is well coached,” Hutchcraft said. “I expect an energetic, hungry, team with solid goaltending . They won’t quit and I’m super excited to play them in the first round because it’s going to be a good one.”
The A’s did score more goals, and give up less than the Highlanders, and as always in playoff action the adage most likely will apply – defense wins championships. Goaltending could be the difference as Hutchcraft alluded to.
Taylum Sandy saw the majority of action between the pipes for Cambridge, posting a slightly better goals against average (6.23) than St. Catharines starter Caias John (7.01) but John faced more shots on the season and had the higher save-percentage at (.776)
Colin Walters led St. Catharines in scoring with 20 goals and 71 points, while Drake Neal paced the Highlanders in scoring with 25 goals and 69 points.
“The key for us is staying positive and having belief in our abilities as a group,” added Hutchcraft. “Although we lost seven games this (regular) season, I don’t believe there’s a team we don’t match up well against.
We will have to focus on what makes us successful for 60 minutes at a time, and I believe we’ll be on the right side of things after each series.”
Here’s a look at the St. Catharines Jr. B Athletics first round, best three out of five, playoff schedule against the Cambridge Highlanders.
Game 1 Thursday June 19th 8pm at Galt Arena
Game 2 Friday June 20th 8pm at Canada Games Park
Game 3 Sunday June 22nd 5pm at Galt Arena
Game 4 Thursday June 26th 8pm at Canada Games Park (if necessary)
Game 5 Friday June 27th 8pm at Galt Arena (if necessary)
The Welland Raiders failed to qualify for postseason play after finishing the 2025 regular season with a (1-19) record.
The Orangeville Northmen are the No. 1 seed entering the playoffs after finishing the regular season at (19-1).
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
