April 2002 | Planning done. Winter training in the rearview. We were home in @ClaringtonON to begin the '02 season. Reasons to believe. We hosted @iheadslacrosse, and played in a tournament in preparation. The roadwork started at Darlington SC and a 1 mile stretch of Green Rd. 
@ClaringtonON @iheadslacrosse @OntarioLacrosse Aprl 24 2002 | The roster is set and we have a final stretch of practices before we open the season with a road trip April 25 vs the @BuzzTheHive, and Apr 27 vs @OnondagaNation and @RedhawkLax (Warriors in '02)
@ClaringtonON @iheadslacrosse @OntarioLacrosse @BuzzTheHive @OnondagaNation @RedhawkLax May 1, 2002 | We swat @BuzzTheHive but Onondaga returns the favour and we return home 1-1. Rickard isn't ready so we open at "home" in Cobourg where we trounce @griffinsjrb by a wide margin. Up next is the team we'd face August 25 in the National Championship, @SpartanJrBLax
May 15 ‘02 | Inconsistency plagues us as we drop a 7-3 decision to @SpartanJrBLax,but we answer on the road dropping Brantford 21-1. We hit the road for our next 3 visiting @iheadslacrosse @MimicoJrBLax and @WellandGenerals (Warlords).
May 21, 2002 | Sitting at 4-2 we hit the road getting W’s vs @iheadslacrosse and Welland, dropping a 7-6 decision to Mimico. We move to 6-3 on the season. We host the Barrie Tornado (an ‘01 playoff rematch) and @BuzzTheHive, finish visiting @HawksJrC
May 29 ‘02 | Stringing together some wins puts us at 9-3 on the season. Beating Barrie 8-4, Oakville 6-2 and Huntsville 19-10 in a penalty and fight filled game. Leaders are beginning to emerge and habits are forming.
June 5 ‘02 | Our youth shows as we hammer @HawksJrC on the backend of a home and home 17-6, but we visit Six Nations and come up empty in an 8-6 loss and fall to Mimico 5-4. “We have to learn how to beat the best and win fight games.”
June 12 ‘02 | @WBurgRedDevils make the trip to Rickard a year after winning the Founders. We beat them 15-2. We sign sniper Josh Colley. Little did we know this game would yield much bigger dividends. More on that come July 1.
June 22 ‘02 | We announce the acquisition of Marvin Barr and Doug Trudeau from the @WBurgRedDevils. We beat Scarborough and have a high scoring 14-14 tie vs @officialNKJRB. We’re moving forward but we have our bumps. Still control our own destiny. 1st place is within reach.
With our rescheduled game in Barrie moved to the end of the season due to a wet floor at Dunlop Arena, it sets up a potential battle for 1st. Nate Andres, James Barton and Rick Passfield play in the All Star game for us.
July 3 ‘02 | We beat Sarnia at home, Akwesasne on the road and our playoff opponents are whittled down to either Scarborough or Mimico. We would trounce Barrie 16-3 to wrap up first place and a 1st rd matchup vs @MimicoJrBLax.
July 10, ‘02 | We take the 1st Rd in 5 games. Mimico can’t play at home due to a garbage strike. No games decided by more than 2 goals in a physically demanding series! #Rivalry
July 17 ‘02 | Rd 2 is a rematch against the Barrie Tornado. We open with a terrible effort losing 4-2 at home. We follow that up with 12-6, and 16-6 wins. Barrie wins game 4 at home 6-4. We take game 5 and the series 10-8. Next up, the conference champs from Onondaga.
July 31 ‘02 | we take our young squad to the @OnondagaNation to face the @RedhawkLax. They soundly trounce us. It was bad. We were bad. We lose 13-5 and 12-3. We go home and try to figure out how to fix this. It’s a long ride.
Aug 7 ‘02 | A little soul searching and adjustments and buy-in and we do the unthinkable and drop Onondaga in 3 straight games at home 8-6, 11-7, and 7-6 with James Hinkson scoring late to punch our ticket to the @OntarioLacrosse finals and Founders Cup in @hhbulldogs
@OntarioLacrosse @hhbulldogs Aug 9 '02 | There's a little more to this story and former @newsdurham editor Brad Kelly had his say.. Next up in the finals are @SpartanJrBLax
@OntarioLacrosse @hhbulldogs @newsdurham @SpartanJrBLax Aug 14 '02 | Spartan drops us 3-0. No game was in question, but the physical level of play elevated each game. We ensured we were rested and ready for the Founders grind of 5 games in 5 days. Needless to say, we didn't like Spartan and the feeling was mutual. We'd see them again.
@OntarioLacrosse @hhbulldogs @newsdurham @SpartanJrBLax We took a week to prep for the Founders Cup and our magic number was "5". Our players were rolling, we had confidence and we knew the Ontario finals were a bit of a practice for us. Our road to Georgetown was near.
@OntarioLacrosse @hhbulldogs @newsdurham @SpartanJrBLax Aug 21 | Our pool consists of New Westminster, and Winnipeg winning 16-2 both games. We defeat Edmonton 8-5 to setup a semifinal vs @hhbulldogs
Winnipeg alum Kevin Hilder recalls our game as he later became part of the Gaels family.
@OntarioLacrosse @hhbulldogs @newsdurham @SpartanJrBLax After defeating @hhbulldogs 7-5 in overtime, which included 3 consecutive goals (tie, winner and insurance) from @ZackGreer88 we moved on to the Founders Cup final vs @SpartanJrBLax
Aug 25 ‘02 | With warmup over here in Georgetown opening faceoff ready to go, we’re gonna let @ZackGreer88 take it. 1-0 Green Gaels early in the 1st period.
@SpartanJrBLax Keagan Sherriff ties it up at 1-1 slipping one past Rick Passfield.
Not to be outdone @lax21guy snipes one from way outside putting the guys in green up 2-1 in the 1st
Not to be outdone @SpartanJrBLax Joel Printup lets one go and ties the game 2-2.
..and that’s how the 1st period ends here in Georgetown as we are tied 2-2 with Spartan. Stay tuned, 2nd period action coming up. #Founders2002
Spartans Reg Vanvelzen walks through fhe defence and puts Spartan up 3-2!
It’s Printup again go extend Spartans lead to 4-2. It’s the bend but don’t break time of game.
Just before the 2nd intermission James Barton gets on the board finding room in front. 4-3 Spartan and that’s how the period ends and we head to intermission.
As we open the 3rd period Mike Carrol picks up a loose ball and runs the length finding a hole in Monaghan. 4-4 and away we go!!
Doug Trudeau scores on the PP to put us up 5-4. Remember the name.
We moving toward midpoint of the 3rd period and we’re pressing. Nate Andres take a @lax21guy feed and buries one to stretch the lead to 6-4
We’re entering the stretch run and with Spartan on an extended PP due to a major, Sherriff notches his 2nd closing the gap 6-5 with just over 6 mins to go.
Just over 3 minutes remaining and there’s a scramble. Justin Hawksbee picks up a loose ball throws one behind the back catching Passfield off the post. We’re tied 6-6. It’s on.
Doug Trudeau uses a @lax21guy “pick” and takes one to the net. He catches short side high and puts us in the lead 7-6 with :50 seconds to go!
That’s how it ends! 7-6 final and the Green Gaels are your 2002 Founders Cup Champions!!
Thanks for taking this walk down memory lane with us. We’re honoured to be inducted into the @ClaringtonON Sports Hall of Fame.
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