The battle lines have been drawn and the two finalists determined in the bid to be the Ontario Lacrosse Association Junior A Champions.

To the surprise of few, the Rayburn Construction Northmen, who finished first in the regular season standings with a 19-2-1 record, will be defending their 2008 championship title after sweeping playoff series against Whitby and Six Nations.

Facing them at the other end of the rink will be this year's Minto Cup host club, the Brampton Excelsiors.

Finishing second in the regular season, Brampton's path to the final took them through Akwesasne and Burlington.

While both teams are assured a berth in the Minto Cup tournament, spectators and fans alike can be guaranteed neither team in this traditional rivalry will be taking things lightly.

And no where is this sentiment more pronounced than with the players and coaching staff of the Northmen.

Speaking before practice on Sunday, Orangeville coach Matt Sawyer was clear on his team's objective at the moment.

"Right now we are not focused on the Minto Cup, we are focused on the Ontario final and trying to become the Ontario champions.

"Our goal is to defend our title and go to the Minto - not through the back door but representing Ontario."

Echoing that sentiment from the players perspective is Northmen veteran goalie Nick Rose.

Now in his final year of junior eligibility, Rose admits it is tempting to look ahead, but right now they have to concentrate on the series at hand, "We don't want to be National champs without being the Ontario champions as well. We want bragging rights over Brampton and just want to get on a roll."

Both Rose and Sawyer, as well as the entire Northmen team, are expecting a tough series against the Excelsiors.

Rose knows that they can't go into the final thinking Brampton will take it easy just because they are already in the Minto as host team.

He fully expects them to bring their "A" game with them every night.

For his part, Sawyer hase confidence in his team, their abilities and determination to win.

When asked on if he plans on making adjustments he knows the key to success lays with the team he has put on the floor all season. He says you can't spend all your time worrying about the opposition.

"We have to worry about ourselves, stick to our game plans and make them adjust to us."

Game one of the Ontario Final takes to the floor of the Tony Rose at 8 p.m. Wednesday evening (results unavailable at press time) with game two being played at the Powerade Centre in Brampton on Friday night. Game three is slated back in Orangeville at 7 p.m. Sunday and game four of this best of seven series goes at 8 p.m. Monday August 10th in Brampton.