LUCAS LITTLEJOHN’S CAREER NIGHT HELPS LIFT WHITBY WARRIORS OVER OAKVILLE

Lucas Littlejohn scores one of eight goals helping Whitby to a home win over Oakville (PHOTO: OJLL || R MacAloney)

Six games separate the Oakville Buzz and Whitby Warriors in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League standings. However, on Tuesday night at Iroquois Park, three Buzz players scored hat tricks and nearly forced overtime with a pair of goals in the final minute. A career night for Lucas Littlejohn proved to be too much as his Whitby Warriors hung on for a 13-12 victory.

Following back-to-back goals in the opening minute Littlejohn kicked off his night with not just a natural hat trick, but four straight in just over five minutes. Charlie Boon and Jameson Steele responded for a pair for Oakville but trailed 5-3 after the first.

Littlejohn continued with three more goals in the second period stretching the lead to 8-5 heading into the final frame. An opening minute power play goal from Julien Belair kicked off another pair for Whitby. Leading 10-7 near the midway mark of the period Littlejohn and Robert Baxter went back-to-back. However, the Buzz would not concede quietly. A trio of players rattled off three goals in just over three minutes to trail by two. A response from the Warriors set up a wild final minute where both Liam Luzza and Finn Morgan scored for Oakville, eventually coming up just short 13-12.

Lucas Littlejohn set a career high with eight goals (previous high: 5). He finishes the night with 31 goals and 37 assists for 68 points (in 10 games) – all three numbers lead the league.

His Warriors fired a league-high 72 shots on Zach Constantopoulos, who made 59 saves in a losing effort. Charlie Boon (4/5), Jameson Steele (3/5) and Liam Luzza (3/2) all also set career highs for points.