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Turfdogs are CLAX champs

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For the first time in Durham Turfdogs’ history, the CLAX club has won the Creator’s Cup, defeating the Oshweken Demons 11-9 on March 18 at the General Motors Centre, and they did so in front of the largest crowd the Canadian Lacrosse League has ever seen. The night was also capped off with head coach Mat Giles winning CLAX coach of the year honours.

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

The Durham Turfdogs made history in more ways then one over the weekend.

The Turfdogs were able to capture their their first Creator’s Cup championship in franchise history, defeating the Oshweken Demons 11-9 in front of a Canadian Lacrosse League (CLAX) record crowd of more than 600 people.

“That was really exciting,” said Mark Farthing, the team’s captain, following the win.

“We’ve got a tight knit group of guys here, so it was really exciting that we could pull that off.”

The Turfdogs, who defeated the Barrie Blizzard in the semi-finals to make a run for the cup, had a successful 6-4 regular season, which also earned head coach Mat Giles CLAX Coach of the Year honours.

“All the guys have the utmost respect for him,” Farthing says.

Giles said the road to get to the big victory was  two-year process of bringing in and honing smart players on the field.

“When you get players that are feeling the game out, the situations in the game, we’re going to have some success,” Giles said.

Oshweken was on the board first in the game, but Oshawa quickly answered back with a goal from Dylan Goddard, who also added five assists in the victory, earning him MVP honours in the game.

At the halfway point, the clubs were cinched at five goals apiece, and despite the continuous back and forth, goaltender Lucas Coote would make a number of big saves to keep the Turfdogs ahead after the final bell rung. In total, Coote stopped 42 balls in the win.

Offense also came from Brandon Armstrong (two goals and an assist), Mike Triolo (two goals and an assist) and Derek Hopcroft (two goals and two assists).

For Farthing, a strong effort across the roster contributed to the success.

“I’m wearing the C, but when you get into the room and things like that, there’s a lot of leaders on this team, so for me to take all the leadership credit, definitely wouldn’t be correct of me,” he says.

“It goes right now from our coach to the latest guy added to our team. Everyone is pulling their weight and that’s why we’re here.”

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