The Six Nations Chiefs and Peterborough Lakers will continue their quests towards a Mann Cup title, as the squads are set to square off in the Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) finals.
Both Six Nations and Peterborough closed out their opening round series Monday night, defeating the Brooklin Redmen and Kitchener-Waterloo Braves, respectively.
Peterborough’s Mark Steenhuis, who earned the title of regular season scoring champion with 83 points (43 G, 40 A), continues to put up league-leading numbers in the postseason with 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points.
Jeff Shattler, who leads Six Nations with 24 points (11 G, 13 A), will look to make his second consecutive trip to the Mann Cup finals under unique circumstances. The transitional stud suited up against his current Six Nations teammates in 2013 while a member of the Mann Cup finalist Victoria Shamrocks.
While Steenhuis and Shattler lead their respective squads in point production, the finals will feature a marquee matchupbetween offensive superstars Cody Jamieson and John Grant Jr.
Jamieson carried the Chiefs in the fifth and final game of their series versus Brooklin with four goals and three assists. This included a late game rally with Brooklin leading 9-8, as the powerful lefty netted a pair of goals with less than five minutes remaining to secure the 10-9 victory and close out the series.
Six Nations’ defense will hope to contain the red-hotJohn Grant Jr., who trails Steenhuis in Peterborough playoff scoring with 20 points (11 G, 9 A).
The legendary sniper erupted with an outstanding ten-point (7 G, 3 A) performance in the Lakers’ 13-9 series clinching win over the Kodiaks.
Peterborough goaltender Matt Vinc, who was also a member of the 2013 WLA champion Shamrocks, will tend the twine against the high-powered Chiefs offense. In addition to Shattler, the Rochester Knighthawks goaltender will face a crop of familiar shooters, as Chiefs players Jamieson and Stephen Keoghare both NLL teammates with Vinc.
Brandon Miller has been strong between the pipes for Six Nations, playing every minute during the Chiefs’ series against Brooklin. Miller and the Chiefs defense were able to halta Redmen offense that led the league in regular season scoring averaging over ten goals per game, holding the Redmen to under double-digits in each game of the first round series.
Game One of the MSL finals is set for Thursday night at 8 p.m. at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
