Game three. Someone will go home with an advantage. Either a 2-1 lead, or a 3-0 lead, someone is leaving the floor with control. In the case of the Eastern Conference finals of Major Series Lacrosse, not only would the Peterborough Lakers have a lead in the series, but they’d have a stranglehold having already won the first two games. If the Brooklin Redmen expected to gain any ground, it needed to be Thursday night.
Already down a goal thanks to John Grant Jr, a skirmish between a number of players put Brooklin down a man on a four-on-three powerplay. Dan Ball would score for the Redmen to tie it up shorthanded, but Mark Steenhuis quickly restored the lead on the same powerplay. Steenhuis’ goal started a three goal run for the Lakers. The teams traded goals to end the period, including a Jamie Lincoln goal in the final minute, but Peterborough took a 5-2 lead to the locker room. In the final five minutes, another scrum broke out behind the play resulting in five players being sent to the box, including John Grant for unsportsmanlike conduct. Welcome to playoff lacrosse!
Caleb Wiles opened the scoring for the Redmen five and a half minutes into the second, but as was the case most of the evening, Peterborough was quick to respond. It took two and half minutes, and a penalty to Scott Evans, before Shawn Williams would get one for Brooklin. The two teams then traded two goal runs, with the Lakers coming sixty-six seconds apart, while the Redmen’s pair were scored within twenty-four seconds. However, another late goal by the Lakers ruined the momentum shift as Brooklin found themselves with work to do trailing 9-6 heading to the final period.
There’s a reason Shawn Williams is called the leader of the Brooklin Redmen. After using his rifle shot to score earlier in the game, he opened the third completing his hat trick, again with his massive outside shot. Josh Ruys pulled Brooklin within one and again, the momentum looked to be headed their way. Until Kiel Matisz grabbed a jersey in front, so much so that he lifted the opposing player off the ground, and was called for holding. On the ensuing powerplay, as they had done all night, the Lakers ended the scoring run. With ninety-four seconds to play, Aaron Bold had been heading to the bench for the extra attacker. A giveaway caused him to hustle back to his net and he never got set in time to stop Kyle Sorenson from putting the game to bed. The final score was 11-8 for Peterborough, who can now sweep the series, and clinch a berth in the MSL Finals at home on Monday night.
Bold was actually pulled mid-way through the second, but was then replaced as Brooklin drew closer. After his time on the bench, the Brooklin netminder settled down and played strong lacrosse stopping forty-three shots on the evening. Shawn Evans led all runners with eight points on the evening (four goals, four assists) while his namesake on the other team, Shawn Williams, led Brooklin with five points (three goals, two assists).
Meanwhile, in Six Nations, the Chiefs were looking to respond to their close loss to the Excelsiors Wednesday night that saw their Western Conference final tied at a game apiece. Despite being tied at two after one, Six Nations finished the second period with two goals to pull ahead 6-4, and they finished the game on a three goal run. The final score was 9-5 Chiefs who now hold a 2-1 lead in the series. Cody Jamieson led all runners with five points, while Brandon Miller picked up the win in net. Despite a thirty-six save effort, Anthony Cosmo picked up the loss. Their series resumes Sunday night in Brampton.
