Lakers edge Brooklin for much-needed win
The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers eked out a much-needed win on Wednesday night, 7-6 over the Brooklin Lacrosse Club at Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby.
The win moves the Lakers to 54-0 on the season ahead of a critical Thursday night home game against the Cobourg Kodiaks, who are chasing them in the standings.
The Lakers led 6-2 after the second period and watched that lead dwindle throughout the third, running into penalty trouble. Head coach Mike Hasen was happy the team pulled off the win, but said more discipline is needed in key moments. Holden Cattoni was ejected from the game after verbally sparring with the referees over a clock reset with 6:25 left to play. A similar infraction occurred earlier this season with Jake Withers being ejected.
“They need to (stop talking) and take it,” Hasen said. “We said in the locker room, we’re going to go where we take ourselves and for us to bury ourselves in the penalty box in the last 10 minutes gave them the opportunity to get back into a game that we controlled. We have to eat it sometimes and hopefully it’s a learning lesson for (Holden) and everybody.”
The Lakers wouldn't know until Thursday if Cattoni will face a suspension.
Rookie Carter Page had two goals as he filled in on the right side, which was short-handed after Thomas Hoggarth woke up with a cold this morning. Matt Gilray, who was originally unavailable, stepped up after competing at Team Canada tryouts earlier in the day in St. Catharines.
“It was a scramble,” Hasen said. “Gilray was available and he showed up for us tonight. He played a bit of offence, as did Withers, to help fill in that missing body.”
Page wasn’t the only rookie in the lineup. The Lakers dressed three young defenders as well — Adam Thistlethwaite, Holden Lowes and Andrew Vradenburg, as they took on a Brooklin team that had previously only lost two games, both to Six Nations.
“At the end of the day, it was the first opportunity the kids had and they were really good. They’re getting comfortable with the pace of the game,” Hasen praised.
Landon Kells, starting his second straight game, said the rookies had no issues on the floor and he barely had to guide them from the goal.
“It’s just talking to them every now and then, but they’re really skilled, high-calibre ball players,” Kells said. “They all made some really good plays tonight and played well so there wasn’t too much we had to do, we just had to let them do their thing.”
Kells made 33 saves in a bounceback win after a loss to the Chiefs last Thursday, making a number of big saves, including shutting down three Brooklin three-on-one attempts.
“It was needed. I’m just happy that the coaching staff believed in me and gave me another chance out there after a less than ideal start against Six Nations,” he said. “I felt like I just had to rebound and play my game. It’s really easy to play behind our defence; they give you a lot of looks that you want to see, so it’s just playing our team game.”
Brooklin opened up an early 2-0 lead but goals from Turner Evans and Owen Hiltz tied it by the halfway point of the first.
Kells held Brooklin scoreless for over 30 minutes while the Lakers potted four unanswered in the second period. Joey Cupido got his first goal as a Laker, Joe Resetarits fought through traffic to score, Page got free in front to convert Cattoni’s pass, and Evans finished off a transition play with Holden Lowes.
Page’s second of the game proved to be the game winner in the third period, as he scored on a rebound from Hiltz’s behind-the-back attempt.