WHITBY -- In the eyes of Jeff McComb, Tuesday night was everything a Whitby Warriors lacrosse game should be. With the outcome never in question, the Warriors kept the pedal to the floor, embarrassing the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves 17-3 at Iroquois Park.
After allowing the game's opening goal, the Warriors reeled off nine straight tallies, courtesy nine different goal scorers, taking full command en route to upping their record to 5-2-2 in the OLA Junior A league.
When it was suggested to McComb that Tuesday was the Warriors most impressive showing of the season, the coach didn't stop short in praising his troops.
"I thought we played real well in Orangeville without six guys that were in our lineup tonight," he began, "but certainly by far, it was our most complete effort at home and probably one of our top two or three efforts in the last two years."
A look at the box score provides a compelling argument in McComb's favour.
Five different Warriors registered at least five points, led by six-point efforts from Steve Hutchins (1g,5a) and Chris Davey (3g,3a). Matt Savoie (3g,2a), Justin Fox (2g,3a) and Zack Greer (1g,4a) each had five points.
Despite wielding one of the most talented lineups in the league, the 17 goals scored was by far the Warriors' most prolific offensive night of the year, and is something McComb expects to see more of.
"It's something we've always believed in as a group and that's the way we've built our team," he said of the balanced offence. "We want to be an up-tempo team, a pressure team, because we truly believe that if you go through the athletes, 18 deep, that we dress every night, we are the deepest team in this league. We've got guys in every part of our lineup that can score.
"That's the way we should be putting numbers up on the scoreboard every night," he added.
Brad Levick with two, Marc Jackson, Nick Cotter, Kyle O'Brien, Mitch McMichael and Luke Carson all with single tallies rounded out the scoring.
For Greer, who has seemingly turned from a sniper at Duke University, to a playmaker in his return to the Warriors, Tuesday night provided a much needed lift.
"Yeah, it's about time eh?" said Greer with a laugh when asked if he finally had his legs back under him. "We were moving the ball real well and that opened stuff up for me. Guys were jumping to me and I just had to find the open guy and we were burying them."
The Warriors are on the road for two this weekend, Friday in Brampton and Sunday in Orillia.
Meanwhile, in Huntsville Tuesday night, it was smooth sailing for the Clarington Green Gaels as they kept their perfect record intact at 15-0 after a 10-8 victory over the Hawks.
The Gaels took a 4-1 first period lead on goals from Todd Collins, Ryan Degerdon, Christoffe Perron and Adam Derks, before falling behind 5-4 late in the second.
Refusing to allow panic to set in, the Gaels reeled off four more in a row and six of the next seven to take command of the contest. Huntsville scored two in the final 1:25 to make it interesting, but by then, the outcome had already been determined.
Degerdon, Collins and Perron ended the night with two goals each, while Matt Cockerton, Mike McCusker and John Lafontaine added singles.
The Green Gaels are at home Thursday night, playing host to Mimico.