The number one ranked Brooklin Redmen find themselves in a hole down 3-0 against the Peterborough Lakers in the MSL semi finals. Throughout the season the Redmen had the Lakers number by winning all but one game during the regular season but the post season has been another story as the Lakers have been dominate in all three games in the series.
Peterborough headed into a packed 1,400 fan filled Iroqouis Arena looking to put a stranglehold on Brooklin and take a commanding 3-0 lead.
Both teams were ready to play coming hot out of the gates but Peterborough’s John Grant danced between the Redmen defense and broke the deadlock two and a half minutes into the game.
The rough stuff started again as it has been a tough series between the two MSL East rivals. Captain Derek Suddons received a double minor for a slash while Vitarelli and Gamble would each earn two for roughing which sent the Lakers to the powerplay.
Dan Ball evened the score with a short handed marker at 5:47 and tie the game up at one.
The Lakers would answer back quickly as Steenhuis ripped a powerplay snipe past Redmen goaltender Aaron Bold to move the Lakers up by one.
Shawn Evans and John Grant each nabbed a goal improving the lead to 4-1 leaving the Brooklin Redmen crowd worried that the Lakers would pull away early.
Owen Sound native Adam Jones buried the Redmen’s second goal of the game brining the score within two.
With 45 seconds left in the first period Jamie Lincoln grabbed his 7th goal of the playoffs and extended the Lakers lead to three heading into the locker rooms.
Brooklin opened the scoring in the second with Caleb Wiles beating Lakers’ tender Tyler Carlson with 5:08 in the second frame.
Yet again, the Lakers answered quickly as Shawn Evans tallied his second marker of the game to add to the Peterborough lead.
Two and a half minutes after his second goal of the game, Shawn Evans found himself on the game sheet again, this time for a penalty.
The Redmen made short work of their powerplay as the All Time Redmen Scoring Leader Shawn Williams fired the ball past Carlson to cut the lead to two.
The Lakers responded again with a pair of goals from Lincoln and John Grant’s hatrick goal. 
The Redmen yanked Bold out of the cage to let him regain his composure while rookie goaltender Zack Higgins tended the twine in the meantime.
The Redmen would answer with their own pair of goals from Cam Holding and Shawn Williams with in 30 seconds of each other. Bold returned to his net to finish what he left off.
For almost 9 minutes the goaltenders shut down numerous scoring opportunities until Shawn Evans squeaked the pill behind Bold which made the score 9-6 going into the final period.
With 3:26 into the first, Williams blasted one between the wickets of Carlson to bring his squad within two early in the first.
Because Williams was so hot from the outside it allowed him to find his teammates on the inside much easier and thats exactly what he did when he found a streaking Josh Ruys to cut the lead within one with 14 minutes to go in the third.
Evans tallied his fourth goal and eighth point to pull away from the Redmen by two with under two and a half minutes remaining.
Peterborough hometown boy Kyle Sorensen would put the nail in the coffin with an unassisted tally to make the score 11-8.
The Redmen have to dig deep and win four straight games if they want to keep their Mann Cup hopes alive. Brooklin will travel to a packed Peterborough Memorial Arena and look to beat the odds to keep their playoff run alive.
This is the Lakers team that was expected to been seen during the 2012 MSL season but they have peaked at the perfect time. The Lakers had too much skill and experience to sit in third place but now are proving they are a legitimate contender for not only the MSL Champions but the Mann Cup.
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