Captain Robert Hope saw glimpses of greatness in the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers on Thursday night, but a critical mistake in the final minute of play cost his team greatly, as they fell 13-12 to the Oakville Rock. “We made too many mistakes at inopportune times [and they capitalized on them],” Hope said. “We were a little sloppy early; defensively, just throwing balls away, giving up too many opportunities, not shots that Hutchy wanted to see. Offensively, I thought we scored enough, we just have to be better on transition and defence coming back through that way.” A miscalculated pass gave Oakville defender Jake Darlison a breakaway and he scored with 32 seconds left for the one-goal win. The teams had matched each other goal for goal through the first half, tying six times until Oakville’s five-goal run gave them a 10-6 lead in the second. The Lakers did settle down quickly and went on a six-goal run of their own over the end of the second and start of the third periods. They led 12-10 lead but gave up two goals within 44 seconds and couldn’t take the lead back before Darlison’s goal. Brad McCulley had a solid shot with five seconds left but was stymied by former Laker Landon Kells, who didn’t give up a goal after coming on in relief of Evan Constantopolous. Drew Hutchison allowed 10 before Nick Rose, who held Oakville scoreless for over 20 minutes, replaced him. With four games remaining, the Lakers sit tied for fourth place in the MSL standings with Brooklin, on which they have the tiebreaker plus a game in hand. They are four points behind third-place Cobourg and six points behind Oakville. Playoffs are a world away, yet they are on everyone’s mind. “When you start playing (at the beginning of the year) you start thinking about playoffs. That’s your first checkmark is to get into playoffs and finish as high as you can,” said Hope. “Then you know your matchup, get out of the first round, second round and get to the Mann Cup. That’s your ultimate goal. We have to have a killer mentality here for the next four. I thought we’ve gotten better each one but we still are committing the same mistakes.” The Cobourg Kodiaks visit the PMC next Thursday, July 23. The season series between the teams is tied 1-1 so the game is critical in providing a potential tiebreaker for playoff positioning. “We just have to make sure we win the next game and it’s an important one because it does have playoff implications,” said head coach Mike Hasen. “Every game is a playoff game here for us moving forward but it’s a focus on Cobourg and making sure we’re at our best for that one.” Next Thursday is the long-awaited Retro Night honouring the 1986 Jr. A Peterborough Maulers, with throwback jerseys, a soundtrack of 80s and 90s hits and the return of Toonie Dogs. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster online or at the box office. Of Note - Attendance was 2,511 - Peterborough fired 48 shots on goal while Oakville let go of 55 - Matt Gilray was 14/29 on faceoffs while the Rock were 15/29 - Peterborough was 0/1 on the power play but did score one shorthanded, and Oakville was 1/3 - Jake Withers served the first of a two-game suspension, and Deacan Knott the first of four after both were involved in fights against Owen Sound last week - The Lakers welcomed Colton Armitage (#94), who played five games as a call-up earlier in the season, as a full-time Laker on Thursday. The 22-year-old St. Catharines’ native led the team with a hat trick and two assists. Full Lakers Scoring Colton Armitage 3-2 Braedon Saris 2-3 Daniel Clark 2-0 Rob Hellyer 1-5 Ryan Lanchbury 1-4 Holden Cattoni 1-0 Liam Patten 1-0 Dylan Hutchison 1-0 Justin Sykes 0-2 Brad McCulley 0-2 Holden Lowes 0-1 Colton Armstrong 0-1 PHOTOS BY DAVID PICKERING @picks_pics

The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers were fired up by the soundtrack to their game on Thursday night. It was country night, so the twangy music blared through the Peterborough Memorial Centre as the Lakers (7-6-0) beat the Owen Sound North Stars (1-11-0) 13-5 in what could be called a “spirited match.” Owen Sound lost an assistant coach and their faceoff guy Mitch Gustavsen to game misconducts early, but things were generally calm through the first 38 minutes. With the Lakers up 12-2 late in the second period, Jake Withers was high sticked in a corner scrum, which prompted him to retaliate with a punch or two. As Withers was escorted to the penalty box, he and goaltender Kaleb Martin, who had been lifted from the game after Peterborough’s eighth goal, exchanged some verbal punches before Martin left the bench to jump Withers. “We have to treat this game like any other game where we’re building, and we want to play on that edge,” said head coach Mike Hasen. “Wiz took one in the corner, his wires got crossed and one thing led to another. I’m not sure what was said on that side of the floor to make the first goalie go off. It was entertaining. For the fans, that doesn’t happen very often.” As their scuffle ended, Andrew Kidd approached centre floor and removed his equipment, asking Lakers’ starter Deacan Knott to dance. Each ‘tender got one jab in. The penalties were numerous; all three goaltenders fighting were ejected from the game. “I’ve never seen two goalies (from the same team) kicked out at once in the same game,” said Dustyn Birkhof. “That was a first for me. I obviously love that part of the game so it was really cool to watch. I just sat back and watched Deacan go to work there. That was awesome, he looked like Muhammed Ali out there doing some boxing.” It is rare that both of a team’s goalies are lost during the game, but it does happen, most notably at the 2013 Mann Cup when both of the Six Nations Chiefs’ goalies were ejected for illegal equipment. Forward Colin Doyle strapped on the pads and made six saves in the final 10 minutes. Tyler Halls was that man for Owen Sound. The defender put on Martin’s equipment and played 21:18, allowing only a single goal on 12 shots. The Lakers understood there was a runner in net with little to no goal experience and factored that into their offensive plan in the third period. They took the high road. “The respect of the game is there,” explained Hasen. “We want to play hard between the whistles and do the right things on and off the floor. To throw it on Hallsy and fire at his head or take those shots that we were taking in the first two periods, what does that do for us and for the game?” Halls was heartily congratulated by the Lakers during the post-game handshakes, several of them having played with him in Rochester. Nick Rose was able to replace Knott in the Lakers’ goal. The rough stuff didn’t end after the second – Colton Armstrong played tug of war with Jackson Webster’s jersey at one point, and then Birkhof tried to square up with Brayden Hickey. At the same time, Robert Hope and Brendan Boyle got into a mostly verbal confrontation with Cam Pack and Dylan Lee but were given 10-minute misconducts anyway. Peterborough led 5-0 after the first period, with two goals from Holden Cattoni and singles from Rob Hellyer, Justin Sykes and Mike Robinson, who lit up the arena with a dunk goal, legal for the first time in the MSL. Robinson planted himself behind the net and picked the right moment to wrap his arms around the post to jam the ball past Martin.