OSHAWA, ON– An eleven-point night from Alex Simmons and seven points from Tye Kurtz wasn’t enough as the Oshawa FireWolves (1-4) dropped their second-straight home game 16-14 against the Ottawa Black Bears (3-2) at the Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa on Indigenous Heritage Night.
View full game stats here: OSHAWA VS OTTAWA
“We had a lead and were in a good spot heading into the fourth quarter, we just couldn’t find a way to close it out,” said head coach Glenn Clark. “We had some uncharacteristic individual breakdowns on defence, and that can’t happen at this point in the season.”
It was a quick start for Oshawa as they rattled off two goals just over five minutes in. That two-goal lead was short-lived, though, as Taggart Clark was penalized for a five-minute major, which sent Ottawa to the power play. While on the man advantage, the Black Bears made the FireWolves pay as they scored three goals to take a 3-2 lead. Alex Simmons would tie things back up at three. After Simmons tallied his third point on the night already, Jeff Teat found the back of the net to give Ottawa a lead after the first quarter.
Jackson Nishimura started the scoring in the second quarter as he went airborne across the crease to go far-side on Black Bears goaltender, Zach Higgins. Kurtz then scored his second goal of the game after Ethan Walker found him and threaded the needle. Simmons was able to get another to increase the FireWolves and generate some momentum before Teat scored again. After Ottawa scored to make it a 6-5 game with 24 seconds remaining in the first half, the FireWolves were able to gain possession and call a timeout. On the ensuing possession, Williams sent a pick which allowed Simmons to generate some space, who sent it to Walker, who found Williams on the roll and scored with three seconds left to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.
Simmons netted his hat-trick goal to increase the lead for the home side up to three, which nearly blew the roof off the building at the TCC.
But wait.
After two quick goals from Ottawa saw the lead become one, Williams had a trick up his sleeve. The hometown kid was able to go behind the back far side on Higgins to fool him and make the entire crowd blow the roof off the building and send everyone into a frenzy. The team would trade goals two more times before the quarter ended, but it was Oshawa who had an 11-9 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
A shorthanded goal from Ottawa was the first goal of the fourth as Reed Kurtz was killing a penalty and found a lane to the net to score. But the FireWolves responded. After seeing Nishimura go airborne, Simmons followed suit. Taggart Clark found Simmons on the crease, and he dove across to beat Higgins. Unfortunately, that would be the end of the scoring for Oshawa for a while, as Ottawa scored three goals in under two and a half minutes to take their first lead since the 14:30 mark of the first quarter. With the lead taken away from them, Oshawa kept pounding the net on Ottawa and found as many scoring lanes as possible. Ottawa was able to keep the FireWolves, which saw them score an empty netter to go up by three with two minutes and change to play.
The FireWolves did not give up though and off the faceoff, Oshawa gained possession and scored to make it a two-goal game again and off the next faceoff, they were close to making it a one-goal game but hit the post. That was as close as they got as the FireWolves lost another closely contested matchup against a Canadian opponent.
“The offence and power play looked better, and our shot selection improved, but it wasn’t enough,” said Simmons after scoring six goals and 11 points on the night. We changed some things on the offensive side that worked, but we know we can play better, and we’re starting to figure that out as we’re still a young team and still finding our sweet spot with the whole offence.”
The FireWolves are back on the turf next Saturday night, on January 10, at the Tribute Communities Centre for Green Gaels Night against Halifax for round two with the Thunderbirds. Halifax was able to win game one this season, but the FireWolves are hoping to rewrite the script in their home barn. Faceoff is set for 7:00 PM ET on TSN+, ESPN,+ and NLL+.
Get tickets for the FireWolves next home game on Saturday, January 10 here: OSHAWA VS HALIFAX
About Oshawa FireWolves
The Oshawa FireWolves are Durham Region’s professional box lacrosse team, competing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) out of the Tribute Communities Centre in downtown Oshawa, ON. For more information, visit OshawaFireWolves.com. Follow the team on Facebook at facebook.com/FireWolvesNLL, Twitter @FireWolvesNLL, and Instagram @FireWolvesNLL.
About National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is North America’s largest professional lacrosse league and welcomed more than 1 million fans for the third consecutive year during the 2024-25 season. Founded in 1986, the NLL is comprised of 14 franchises across Canada and the United States, and recently unveiled its largest brand campaign ever, “Welcome to The Next Major League™” and introduced its comprehensive grassroots initiative, NLL UnBOXed™, that will expand the League’s footprint to 60 communities across North America by 2028. For the latest scores and developments in the National Lacrosse League, please visit: NLL.com and find the NLL on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and TikTok. Games are available live and streaming on TSN, TSN+, the ESPN family of networks, ESPN+, and NLL+.
About Tribute Communities Centre
The Tribute Communities Centre is Durham Region’s premier sports and live entertainment facility and is managed by Oak View Group. The Tribute Communities Centre is home to the Oshawa FireWolves of the National Lacrosse League, Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League, and hosts a myriad of events including concerts, circuses, ice skating and family shows. Visit TributeCommunitiesCentre.com, and follow on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
About Oak View Group
Oak View Group (OVG) is the global leader in live experience venue development, management, premium hospitality services, and 360-degree solutions for a collection of world-class owned venues and a client roster of arenas, convention centers, music festivals, performing arts centers, and cultural institutions. Founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015, OVG is the leading developer of major new venues either open or under development across four continents. Visit OakViewGroup.com, and follow OVG on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.
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