The Steelhawks Prepare for Arena Lacrosse League Final Four Weekend

The Whitby Steelhawks have plans to spend the entire weekend at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre (TRAC) in Oakville, ON.

By virtue of a 9-5 record, good for second overall in the Arena Lacrosse League (ALL), Whitby received an automatic bye to the semi-final round of the 2026 ALL playoffs. They will meet the Six Nations Snipers on Saturday March 28, 2026 at 4:00 pm. The other semi-final features the 2025 ALL champs, and first overall Brampton Express (10-4), up against the Toronto Monarchs at 1:00 p.m. The winners of each game will clash in the final on Sunday March 29, 2026, also at the TRAC.

On March 21, the Monarchs defeated the Peterborough Timbermen 12-9 to earn a spot in the semi-finals against Brampton. On the following day, the Snipers defeated the Ohsweken Bears by a score of 18-10 to book their ticket for the other semi-final with the Steelhawks.

The Steelhawks and the Snipers met twice during the regular season. On Sunday January 11th, Whitby traveled to the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena and won by a final of 14-10. The return match at Children’s Arena on Saturday was a closer affair and resulted in a 10-9 victory for the Steelhawks.

The Steelhawks had a poor start to the season at 1-3 early on, two of those losses were by one goal margins with one going to overtime. They bookended that with two consecutive losses to end the regular portion. It was the strength of an eight-game win streak, however, that defined their success this season. They will draw on that accomplishment to fight for the chance to raise the ALL cup on Sunday afternoon, to match what they did in 2024.

“Brad (Reed) and I have been saying all year that the attention to the small things in a game are what makes a good team. We want them to hustle off the floor, be first to the ball and take it to the other team,” said head coach Ryan Degerdon.

“I think we got away from that a bit to end the regular season. I described it to the guys as a bump in the road and I have no doubt that we will be ready for the weekend.  We showed this year, especially with the eight straight wins, that when we win the right way it makes us tough to play against.  If we come prepared with the right demeanour and mental focus this weekend, we will have success,” added Degerdon.

The team was second to Brampton (201) with 195 goals scored (13.9 per game average) and led the league with a meager 146 goals against (10.4 goals against average).

Offensively, Parker Pipher led the league, for the second consecutive year, with 34 goals, 57 assists for 91 points in 14 games played. Older brother, Devin was sixth in scoring with 19 goals, 57 assists for 76 points in the same number of games played.

The goalie tandem of Ryan Schuetzkowski and Ethan Harwood were first and second in goals against average (GAA) this season. Harwood finished at a 10.06 GAA and Schuetzkowski ended his season at a 10.10 GAA.