STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Mike McCannell describes his Orangeville, Ontario, hometown as quintessential Canada.

And that means a passion for lacrosse, and particularly the Orangeville Northmen.

The Junior A lacrosse team filled the 700-seat Tony Rose Arena, known locally as the Bunny Barn, this past summer.

"We're just a small town — kind of a classic Canada small-town vibe," said McCannell, a Stony Brook men's lacrosse midfielder. "There's like 30,000 people. Lacrosse is everything in our town. If you drive down Main Street, you'll see light posts with a little Northmen flag on it."

This past season, there was plenty of reason to celebrate the Junior A lacrosse team.

Not only did the Northmen win the highly competitive Ontario provincial championship — with McCannell defeating Stony Brook teammates Patrick Kaschalk and Matt Anderson of the Burlington Chiefs in the finals — the Orangeville squad went on to capture the national Junior A championship, known as the Minto Cup, in late August.

It was the organization's seventh Minto Cup title.

"Watching it my whole life and seeing guys win it when I was younger, it's just been a childhood dream of mine," McCannell said. "To me, it's equivalent to an NCAA championship. Just what it takes to get there is a battle, especially in the Ontario League."

In their year-end awards, the Northmen named McCannell the team's Transitional Player of the Year, Unsung Hero and Most Sportsmanlike.

Now, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound McCannell has his vision set on a successful junior season as a midfielder with the Seawolves. An America East All-Rookie Team selection in 2018, he has 24 goals and 19 assists in 28 career games with Stony Brook over two seasons.

The Seawolves open the upcoming season Feb. 11 against St. John's at LaValle Stadium.

Last year's production — nine goals and 15 assists — came after McCannell returned just in time for the season. He had dislocated a shoulder in the Ontario juniors semifinals the previous summer and underwent surgery in September 2018.

Now, that's well in the rearview mirror.

"Mike brings a Canadian influence to our team," first-year assistant coach Mike Chanenchuk said. "He's a big lefty who has a knack to get shots off and get to the cage. He's going to be a guy for us who is going to create offense and then score when he gets opportunities."

Said McCannell: "I feel like we have a great group of guys. Especially with the new coaches, we're looking to take the next step in our conference tournament play."