OHSWEKEN — If a championship team is built from the goalcrease out, the Oakville Buzz has already laid the foundation to contend in the Ontario Lacrosse Association’s junior B league next season.

The visiting Buzz was eliminated by the Six Nation Rebels Tuesday in the fifth and deciding game of the teams’ first-round playoff series. The 5-1 loss in front of a sold-out crowd at Gaylord Powless Arena in Ohsweken was typical of a series that was low-scoring by lacrosse standards and saw only one team reach double digits offensively in the entire set.

The emergence of Davide Diruscio as a legitimate replacement for departed backstop Cam Watts, a determination of Buzz players to prove they were more than a warm-up match for the two-time defending national champions, and a commitment to team defence were keys in stretching the series the distance.

“A lot of the guys were motivated to go farther, just because we weren’t expected to,” said Buzz all-star forward Mark White. “Hard work and heart took us a long way.”

The Buzz opened Tuesday’s scoring early in the first period on a goal by Spencer Gallant, but allowed five unanswered goals the rest of the game, including three in the third period when the game was still close.

Dylan Gilbert took a slashing penalty after time expired in the second period, leaving the Buzz a man short to open the third. The onslaught of goals began right off the opening draw when the Rebels’ Jeremy Johns let a cannon of a shot fly from the top of the offensive zone, beating Diruscio to the glove side.

While a lack of offence throughout the playoff round proved costly, this was the way the Buzz was built to play — as a high-energy, defensively-minded team. The Buzz allowed the fifth-fewest goals in the league during the regular season, surrendering only 116 markers in 20 games despite playing in arguably the most competitive division in the league. This is a good sign for a young team that anticipates having the majority of its players back in the fold next year.

“I think coming into this rink and winning a game (Game 1), plus playing two other close games, since this is such a tough rink and there is a lot of adversity, I think the guys are definitely going to be better lacrosse players (next year),” said Buzz head coach Ken Gillies.

“We had one kid come in from Orangeville who is going to go overage, and we’re probably going to lose anywhere from five to seven players to the A club (Oakville’s affiliate, the Burlington Chiefs), but we are still going to have a real good core of 20-to 21-year-olds, so hopefully we can get over the top.”

If the Buzz can find some offensive talent this offseason to add to its steady defence and succession of quality goal-tending, it may have the pieces in place to beat a giant like Six Nations in its own house.

“I think we’re going to need to pick up our offence,” said White. “I think we are going to need a lot more goal scorers that are (naturally) talented. We didn’t have any goal scorers hit the 20-goal mark, as opposed to a lot of teams that did, so we are going to need to pick up some bigger guys on offence, and I think we should keep our defence the same because it (held opponents to) low scoring all the way.”