The Kitchener/Waterloo Kodiaks lost home floor advantage for the first round of the playoffs on Sunday night to the Brampton Excelsiors. With no seedings or standings left to determine in Major Series Lacrosse, Wednesday night’s match between the Kodiaks and the Brooklin Redmen was about finishing strong and going into the playoffs on a positive note.
Having secured the top seed in the East, the Redmen came out strong. Derek Hopcroft scored in the first minute to launch Brooklin into a three goal surge. Chris Cloutier would get one back for Kitchener forty-four seconds following Caleb Wiles goal, the Redmen’s fourth, but they would get nothing else in the period. Brooklin led 4-1 at intermission.
The second period was much of the same, with Wiles scoring his second of the night, just over a minute into the period. This started a five goal run for the Redmen, this time ended by Hopcroft. Jay Thorimbert would give Kitchener their second just past the midway point of the game, but Shawn Williams would score his hat-trick goal shortly thereafter. Jason Mainer got it back, but any momentum the Kodiaks thought they had was dispelled by Dan Ball as he scored with four seconds to go in the period. Brooklin stretched their lead to 11-3 after two.
Shawn Williams continued his dominance of opposing defences scoring his fourth of the game, Brooklin’s twelfth, just over eight minutes into the final frame. Kitchener tried to piece a comeback together with goals from Cloutier, Jesse Gamble and Martin Whittaker within a minute and forty seconds, but all that did was cut the lead in half, 12-6. That is where the score would stay, and it would hand Brooklin the victory.
With the Six Nations Chiefs season in the books, the win clinched the top seed overall for Brooklin meaning they will hold home floor throughout the playoffs. With the Ontario team hosting the Mann Cup this season, should Brooklin get there they will also hold home floor for that series as well.
Aaron Bold started the game for Brooklin, and gained the win, although he was pulled with the score 7-1. Zack Higgins made twenty-five saves on thirty shots over the better part of two periods. Rick McGarr played the entire game for Kitchener, giving Evan Kirk a night off to prepare for the post-season.
Shawn Williams led all players with six points (four goals, two assists), which was enough to move him into fifth place on the all-time MSL scoring list. Prior to the game, he was three points behind Ron MacNeil. Williams’ two assists also tie him with Dave Duravte for fourth all time in assists. (Writer’s Note: stats include MSL regular season, playoffs and Mann Cup game and can be accredited to Larry ‘Wamper’ Power.)
The Kitchener/Waterloo Kodiaks will kick off their first round, best-of-five playoff series against the Excelsiors Friday night. The Ajax Rock will travel to Peterborough to face the Lakers in their series as well. One of these games will be webcast via pay-per-view on www.webcast-sports.com, although the broadcast schedule has yet to be finalized. Check the site, or follow them on twitter @JVIVideo for updates.
Having locked up the top seed, the Brooklin Redmen, meanwhile, will await the winner of the Ajax/Peterborough series until they play again in round two.
