Knights overtake first; Lightning take two; Fleming on the move

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (Jan. 15-22) — for London’s teams and athletes.

London’s Jessie Fleming is making a move — from Chelsea FC to the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.

* * *

London Knights

With a sweep of a home-and-home series against the Kitchener Rangers (including a blowout home win), the London Knights overtook first place in the OHL standings last weekend — while extending their impressive win streak to 14 games.

Starting the week on the road Friday, London came from behind to beat Kitchener 4-2. After a scoreless first, Kitchener came out strong in the second and opened the period with two quick goals. The Knights fought back, though, with  Kasper Halttunen bringing the team within a goal at the 12:01 mark. Short-handed late in the period, Easton Cowan came up big with a goal to tie things up. Jacob Julien then opened the scoring four minutes into the third with a powerplay marker. Thanks to strong defense and a late Easton Cowan goal, the Knights held on to win, coming within a point of the Rangers in the standings.

And then they moved a point ahead — in convincing fashion. Returning home on Saturday, the Knights put on an offensive show, beating the Rangers 10-3 at Budweiser Gardens to take over first place in the OHL standings.

Jacob Julien got the offense rolling in the first, scoring at the 5:46 mark. Evan Van Gorp doubled the lead shortly after, and then the Knights scored four goals in the second before Kitchener responded with two of their own. At 6-2, that’s as close as the Rangers would get, as London put up another four goals in the final period. Van Gorp and Oliver Bonk both finished with two goals, while Isaiah George, Easton Cowan, Kasper Halttunen, Ruslan Gazizov and Alec Leonard also scored for London.

Up next:

The red-hot Knights have a pair of weekend games ahead, including a contest against the Peterborough Petes, their foes from last year’s OHL Final, as well as a road contest against Erie.

Fri. Jan. 26 (7:00pm vs. Peterborough Petes)
Sat. Jan. 27 (7:00pm @ Erie Otters)

London Lightning

Hosting the Rhode Island Kraken for a pair of weekend games, the London Lightning took both, extending their win streak to six games in the process — and improving their record to 6-2 in their first season in the Basketball Super League (BSL).

London took the opener, 143-125, over the Kraken Friday night to get their weekend off to a good start. The Lightning, who were in control for most of the game, led by 18 at the half, 70-52, and then by a whopping 32 after three quarters. They took their foot off the pedal in the final frame, but cruised to a comfortable win nonetheless. All 11 Lightning players scored in double digits, thought to be the first time in franchise history. Shadell Millinghaus led the way with 18 points. Jachai Taylor had a nice game with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Looking to extend their win streak to six on Sunday, London came out on top once again, this time beating the Kraken 120-95. Another bigtime third quarter extended London’s 11-point halftime lead to 27 heading into the final frame. Millinghaus had another strong game in a Lightning uniform, tallying 25 points and 13 rebounds. Taylor also finished with double-digit rebounds (10) to go with 13 points, while Jermaine Haley Jr. had 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. 

Up next:

The Lightning (6-2) have a three-game week ahead, and they’ll play each at home. After their first look at Windsor Wednesday, they’ll play a TBL opponent Saturday and then Montreal Sunday.

Wed. Jan. 24 (7:00pm vs. Windsor Express)
Fri. Jan. 27 (7:00pm vs. Tri-State Admirals)
Sun. Jan. 28 (2:00pm vs. Montreal Tundra)

Jessie Fleming — On the move to Portland Thorns

London soccer star Jessie Fleming is reportedly heading to the NWSL’s Portland Thorns. The midfielder, who will turn 26 in March, will depart Chelsea FC and join Portland — who will reportedly pay a £250,000 transfer fee (~ CDN$428,000), the largest ever made by an American women’s team.

In Portland, Fleming will join longtime Canada teammates Christine Sinclair (who re-signed for another year with the Thorns on Monday) and Janine Beckie.

Fleming was in her fourth season with Chelsea FC, where she developed into a top midfielder -- in Europe and for Team Canada. After starting 14 of 20 matches last season, her playing time was down this year with Chelsea, with just four starts in 10 games.

The 25-year-old, who wore the captain’s armband in Canada’s win to clinch a return to the Olympics last fall, will play a major role for the team this summer at the Paris 2024 Games as they attempt to defend their gold medal from Tokyo.

In December, Fleming was named Canada Soccer Player of the Year on the women’s side for an impressive third straight year.