Ottawa delivered a dominant performance in all facets of the game in an 11-5 victory over the Toronto Rock, the reigning regular season champions of the National Lacrosse League.
“We couldn’t have written a better script for our first part. This is exactly what we want Black Bears lacrosse to look like,” says forward Connor Kearnan.
Several people in the stands were already wearing their official Black Bears jerseys, often with captain Jeff Teat’s number 51 on the back.
Considered by many to be the best player on the planet, Teat was eclipsed Friday night. It was rather the name of goalkeeper Zach Higgins that was on everyone’s lips.
Higgins stopped 38 opposing shots in his team’s victory. He set the tone early in the game during a penalty kill by making a spectacular save.
Connor Kearnan scored three goals to start the new chapter of his career in Ottawa. (Patrick Woodbury/Le Droit)
“He’s amazing, I love this guy. He’s my roommate and everything he does, he does it professionally. The practices, the warm-up period, everything,” says forward Jacob Dunbar who led his team with six points against Toronto.
“To have Believe it who played with so much confidence, it resonated through the rest of the team. Everyone knew he was in great shape, that he saw the ball well,” adds head coach Dan Ladouceur.
The star of the evening wanted to downplay his contribution after the match, instead giving credit to his teammates for the way they contained the Rock’s attack.
“We were solid all night defensively. We were on their hands and we were putting pressure on them. We didn’t give them much,” insisted Zach Higgins.
The crowd gathered at the Canadian Tire Center on Friday evening charmed the Black Bears players. (Patrick Woodbury/Le Droit)
Ottawa makes a good impression
For this inaugural Black Bears match, sports fans in the federal capital answered the call. Nearly 7,000 people came to attend the meeting.
The lower level of the stands was practically full at the Canadian Tire Center and, even better, the spectators were noisy, much to the players’ delight.
“You could see at times that the fans were still getting used to the habits of the sport, but the crowd was electric. It feels good after what we had last year,” says Connor Kearnan.
“The crowd was incredible! It was absolutely electric! The fans were loud and fired up with every goal, every save, every hit. They were fired up by everything we did,” added teammate Jacob Dunbar.
