Steelhawks Stumble out of the Gate in Season Opener

The Whitby Steelhawks kicked off their 2026 Arena Lacrosse League (A.L.L.) season with a 15-9 loss to their rivals, the Peterborough Timbermen. The other scores from the ALL opening weekend were Ohsweken Bears over the Six Nations Snipers by 19-11, the 2025 league champions Brampton Express defeated the Toronto Monarchs 13-8, and the Paris RiverWolves in a close 18-16 win over the Oshawa Outlaws.

The Steelhawks, league champions in 2024 finished the 2025 season with an impressive 12-2 record good for first overall only to lose a close 10-9 game in overtime to Toronto to bow out of the playoffs. The bright spots from last year were Devin Pipher with 92 points good for fifth in league scoring and netminder Lukas Coote with a league leading nine wins and a 10.49 goals against average.

General Manager Will Petschenig made some off-season deals as he reunited the Pipher brothers by bringing Parker (2025 A.L.L. MVP)  to Whitby from Toronto and securing goalie Ryan Schuetzkowski from Oshawa. Returning behind the bench are Ryan Degerdon and Brad Reed, joined by Greg Linton as equipment manager and trainer Nicole Jaswel.

-Photo by Jay Saucier

Saturday’s game at Children’s Arena saw the teams knotted at 4-4 after the opening quarter, as both teams were looking for rhythm to start their seasons. The Timbermen pulled away by winning the second quarter 5-1 and the third 4-2 to assume a 13-7 lead going into the final quarter. Each team found the net twice in the final 15 minutes for the 15-9 final.

There were some good moments for the Steelhawks as Owen Orpana contributed three goals, Nic Farrus added two and each of the Pipher brothers scored in the loss. Long time team member, Quinn Hyland scored a nice goal as he took a shot and corralled his own rebound to deposit it behind Timbermen keeper Jackson Hainer.

-Photo by Jay Saucier

“That was not the result we wanted obviously, to be honest I don’t think we were prepared well enough as a coaching staff or as players today,” said head coach Ryan Degerdon.

“Our message to the players this season is that every shift and every game counts in this league. I told the guys that I wanted to see an effort until the final whistle each night. Even when the game may have been out of reach in the dying minutes I didn’t see any guys slow down and that’s the effort we want,” added Degerdon.

The Steelhawks will pack up their gear for a road trip to the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena on Sunday December 14 at 1 pm for a game against the Paris RiverWolves.