BRAMPTON, Ont. -- The Orangeville Northmen have edged closer to a second straight Canadian junior lacrosse title.
Adam Jones scored three goals as the defending Minto Cup champions put it in cruise control in edging the Edmonton Eclipse 10-9 and finish the round robin undefeated Tuesday night.
Brandon Ivey and Jordan Critch added two goals each and Mike Teeter, Andrew Suitor and Jesse Gamble also scored for the Northmen (3-0).
Dillon Ward, normally the backup to Nick Rose, was the winning goaltender. Orangeville had a 57-39 shots advantage.
"We played down to the opponent," said Jones, the 2009 Ontario Jr. A player of the year. "We knew we were already in the championship series and we came out a little flat and maybe a little overconfident."
For Edmonton, Shane Lopatynski scored four goals, Greg Bourret, Tim Nolte, Eric Ransom, Simon Giourmetakis and Carson Barton got one each and goalie Marc Nano produced an exceptional performance as the Eclipse (0-3) bowed out of the four-team tournament.
The round robin ended with the Coquitlam Adanacs jumping to a 4-0 lead and withstanding a late Brampton rally to edge the Excelsiors 11-10.
The B.C. champs (2-1) used first-string goalie Chris Seidel and got goals from Ben McIntosh, who produced three, Corbyn Tao, with two, Robert Church, Trevor Moore, Matt Dinsdale, Travis Cornwall, Jorden Weir and Tor Reinholdt.
Brampton (1-2) got two goals from each of Scott Tinning, Ryan McClelland, Dylan Evans and Pat Saunders while Kyle Davis and Dylan Webster chipped in with one apiece. Brampton had a 56-35 shots advantage.
Brampton and Coquitlam go at it again in a Wednesday semifinal and the Excelsiors, who used backup goalie Tyler Carlson on Tuesday, will go with No. 1 Steve Fryer this time. The winner will be Orangeville's opponent for the best-of-three final beginning Friday night.
The Northmen have won seven consecutive games since falling behind 0-3 against Brampton in the Ontario final. They also beat Coquitlam 16-8 and Brampton 8-5 this week.
Edmonton led 3-1 after nine minutes and it was all even, 5-5, late in the second period when Orangeville pulled ahead for good on goals from Ivey, Suitor and Jones in a 68-second splurge.
"I'm really proud of all our guys," said Eclipse coach Dave Pym. "We just came up a little bit short.
"It wasn't meant to be."
Getting to the nationals was a feather in the players' caps since it was only the organization's fourth season. It's only been five years since the Canadian Lacrosse Association expanded the Minto Cup from a strictly Ontario-British Columbia final, and Pym says that, despite the lack of wins, Alberta's teams are slowly closing the talent gap.
"It's great for Alberta to be involved in the Minto," said Pym. "It gives the kids something to shoot for.
"We've got some fantastic players now in other parts of the country and not just in Ontario and British Columbia."