The Peterborough Lakers and the Brooklin Redmen will need Game 7 to decide which team advances to the Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) finals.
Facing elimination, the Redmen forced a deciding Game 7 with a 7-6 double-overtime win on home floor Wednesday night.
Kyle Aquin opened the scoring to give the Redmen an early lead, however, it would be short lived as Peterborough’s Shawn Evans tied the game up just two minutes later. A powerplay marker by Shawn Williams put the Redmen on top again, while Mike Melnychenko added another tally to extend the advantage. John Grant Jr. would score late for Peterborough to cut Brooklin’s lead to one.
Melnychenko would add another less than a minute into the second period to give Brooklin a 4-2 advantage. Grant would yet again cut the Redmen lead to one, registering his second of the night. The score would remain 4-3 for over ten scoreless minutes until Gavin Prout broke the deadlock to extend the lead for Brooklin.
Brooklin’s 5-3 lead would stand for another ten minutes of scoreless action before Josh Gillam and Jim Purves scored back to back to tie the game. Rookie Redmen transition player Jordan Houtby scored his first MSL playoff goal to regain the lead for the Brooklin, however, the Lakers would answer yet again when Evans deposited his second of the night to send the game into overtime.
The first overtime period would fail to produce a winner as both teams were held scoreless. Although a second overtime frame was needed, it was short-lived as Derek Hopcroft scored just 34 seconds in to clinch the victory for Brooklin.
Mike Melnychenko led the Redmen in the win with three points (2g, 1a). The rookie has had a breakout series with 15 points in six games and leads Brooklin in goals with nine. Kiel Matisz had three assists in the win, including the lone helper on Derek Hopcroft’s overtime winner.
John Grant Jr. had two goals and one assist for three points in a losing effort for Peterborough. After scoring just one goal in his first three playoff games, Grant was able to find the back of the net seven times in Games 5 and 6. Shawn Evans had two goals for the Lakers. The recently named MSL MVP leads all scorers in playoff goals with 11.
Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday, August 18 at 8 p.m. at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. The winner of the game will advance to face the Six Nations Chiefs in the MSL finals.
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