Lightning eye playoffs; Knights vs. Saginaw in final; FC London kicks off

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (Apr. 15-24) — for London’s teams and athletes.

The London Lightning enter the Apr. 26-28 weekend still with a fighting chance to finish first in the regular season. (Photo: Owen Price Photography).

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London Knights

The Knights successfully swept the Kitchener Rangers in the second round of the playoffs last week and will now advance to the Western Conference Final (beginning Friday, Apr. 26).

Leading the series 2-0 after a pair of wins at home, London came out on top last Tuesday in Kitchener, as well, winning 6-4. Sam Dickinson set the tone early putting London ahead 15 seconds into the game. Just over three and a half minutes later, Kasper Halttunen doubled the lead. Kitchener punched back in the second period, scoring three times, but London held strong, with Jacob Julien scoring twice. The Rangers tied the game early in the third, but Julien played the hero and completed the hat trick. Isaiah George added an empty net goal in the final minute of play to move the Knights a win away from the sweep. 

Riding their momentum into Game 4, London finished the sweep on Thursday with a 4-3 win over the Rangers. The Knights set the tone early again with Jacob Julien scoring 39 seconds into the game. The Rangers responded, tying the game at 1 to start the third. Julien’s offensive outpouring wasn’t done, as he scored twice to complete another hat trick and put his team ahead 3-1. Kasper Halttunen extended the lead at the 17:46 mark with the game winner. Kitchener scored twice to make it close, with the second goal coming late in the third. But London held strong to secure the game and the series win.

Up next:

The Knights, who are a perfect 10-0 in the postseason, now embark on the OHL’s Western Conference Final against the Saginaw Spirit, who beat the Soo Greyhounds in their own second-round playoff matchup. London, the number one seed, has home-ice advantage.

Game 1: Fri. Apr. 26 (7:00pm vs. Saginaw Spirit)
Game 2: Sun. Apr. 28 (2:00pm vs. Saginaw Spirit)

London Lightning

Looking to bounce back last week after a loss to the TBL’s St. Louis Griffins, the London Lightning beat the KW Titans, on the road, 111-108 at The Aud on Wednesday (Apr. 17). London came out strong in the first half against the first-place Titans, outscoring them 64-48 through two quarters. The Titans fought back in the second half, though, slowly chipping away at the lead. With 2:11 left in the game, the Titans came within a point, 104-103, after a Braylon Rayson three-pointer.

Coming out of a timeout, London’s Jermaine Haley Jr. drained a pair of free throws and then made a layup to put the Lightning ahead by five. After another Titans three-pointer, Jeremiah Mordi drilled a bigtime three of his own to clinch the win. Haley finished with 22 points and six rebounds. Billy White had 25 with five assists, while point guard Chris Jones produced 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

After a week off, the Lightning returned to the court Wednesday (Apr. 24) and earned a one-sided 138-104 win over the West Virginia Grind at Budweiser Gardens in their final home game of the regular season. It was all London from the start, and the home side eclipsed the 100-point mark with five minutes left in the third quarter.

Nick Garth led the way with 36 points, including hitting a new BSL single-game record 11 three-pointers. Chris Jones had 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, while Freddie McSwain had 14 points and eight rebounds. Each of Jachai Taylor (11), Jeremiah Mordi (11) and Marcus Ottey (10) finished with double digit points.

Up next: 

The Lightning (19-10) enter the Apr. 26-28 weekend just one game behind the KW Titans (20-9) for top spot in the BSL standings. But it’ll be a tough climb to finish first. London travels to Newfoundland for three games this weekend, while the Titans have a more favourable schedule.

Fri. Apr. 26 (5:30pm @ Newfoundland Rogues)
Sat. Apr. 27 (5:30pm @ Newfoundland Rogues)
Sun. Apr. 28 (2:30pm @ Newfoundland Rogues)

FC London

The soccer season is back, and both FC London’s men’s and women’s teams will open their 2024 campaigns this weekend at home at Tricar Field.

With the new division alignments, based on results from the past two seasons, FC London’s women’s squad will compete in the League1 Women’s Premier Division, alongside the other top 10 teams in the province. In other words, there will be no easy matches, and each win will be important.

The women will play the second end of a doubleheader at Tricar Field Saturday (Apr. 27) to open their season. They’ll host the Woodbridge Strikers at 8:45pm.

On the men’s side, the team came up short over the last two seasons to qualify for League1’s Premier Division. Thus, they’ll play in the second division this year, alongside seven other squads in the League2 Southwest Division. FC London’s men’s squad will open Saturday’s doubleheader (5:00pm) against Windsor City FC.

Men
Sat. Apr. 27 (5:00pm vs. Windsor City FC at Tricar Field)

Women
Sat. Apr. 27 (8:45pm vs. Woodbridge Strikers at Tricar Field)

London Majors

Majors fans don’t have too much longer to wait until the 2024 season begins. And the team will be playing a couple of exhibition games this year. London is scheduled to host a pair of preseason contests the weekend of May 4-5. They’ll take on the Hamilton Cardinals on the Saturday and the Brantford Red Sox on the Sunday. Both games are scheduled for 3:00pm.

Fans will also see a very familiar face at the ballpark once again, as the team announced this week that Cleveland Brownlee, the longtime fan favourite, will be back for his 14th season in a Majors uniform. During a career that has seen him named one of the league’s best 100 players over the last 100 years, Brownlee has amassed 640 hits, 135 home runs and 514 RBIs over the course of 560 games.

And, despite having a down season last summer, the slugger is just two years removed from enjoying arguably the best season in his IBL career. In 2022, Brownlee hit .335 with a personal best 15 homers and 52 RBIs during the regular season. He was a major part of both the Majors’ 2021 and 2022 championship seasons.

London will open their regular season May 12 (2:00pm) on the road in Toronto. Their home opener is set for Friday, May 17 (7:35pm) against the Welland Jackfish.