With Eric Hainer’s number 16 hanging in their dressing room, the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers found their swagger during an 8-4 win over Brooklin on Wednesday night at Iroquois Park Sports Centre. “I know he was on their minds here tonight,” said Lakers’ head coach Mike Hasen. “There was maybe a little extra energy because of the relationship some of them had with him. It’s been a tough couple of days.” Hainer, member of the Kawartha Fury and younger brother of Jr. A Lakers alumnus Jackson Hainer, tragically passed away during a car accident on the weekend. Tributes have poured in from all over the province. Brooklin held a moment of silence prior to the game, and the Lakers fought hard to honour him with the win. Rob Hellyer led the offence with six points and Drew Hutchison led the defence with 45 saves. It was the team’s best defensive effort and their lowest goals against of the season, a great effort after they fell 12-10 to Brooklin at the Memorial Centre last week. “Hutch was really good,” praised Hasen. “Saved our ass on a couple of occasions and made the easy stops that we needed him to make as well. Defensively I thought we were really good in front of him.” The only unfortunate moment for Hutchison came on Brooklin’s second goal, with 4:10 left in the first period. Chris Boushy’s shot went over the net, hit the boards, and bounced into the net off Hutchison’s back. It didn’t rattle him at all, even with the temperature soaring close to 40°C. “It was pretty hot (in the arena), but we were able to get through the heat tonight,” Hutchison said. “The team played well, they were allowing shots that I wanted to see and you can’t really ask too much more out of them. “Some of the young guys we had on D really stepped up. A lot of speed, a lot of energy. They’re having fun out there, they’re working hard. When you’re young, you’re going to make mistakes but when you’re working hard then you can recover. It’s good to see them playing as well as they have been.” Frank Coyle made his season debut on defence, with Nick Crowley playing in his third game of the season. Hasen said the young defensemen pushed the veterans. “The energy we had tonight was 60 minutes strong,” he said. “It was exactly where we wanted to be especially coming off of last week against the same team. We needed this one.” The Lakers came out hot, with Hellyer and Mike Robinson scoring 27 and 37 seconds, respectively, into the game. Colton Armitage made it 3-0 with his first MSL goal, and Hellyer put Peterborough up 4-0 just over a minute later, chasing Brooklin starter Steve Orleman in favour of Aden Walsh. The Lakers increased their lead to 5-2 with Robinson’s game winner in the second period. Will MacLeod replied for Brooklin. Brad McCulley, and Hellyer with a crease dive, made it 7-4 early in the third. Landen Sinfield responded for Brooklin with his second goal of the game, but Armitage’s second iced it. The Lakers killed off two penalties in the third period, with Hutchison stopping three consecutive shots with Robert Hope directing the play from the penalty box. DJ Clark Debuts Jr. A grad DJ Clark made his debut as a full-time Laker after finishing up his junior year at the University of Denver. He had one assist in his debut; he has scored and assisted as a call-up in years prior. “It’s always great to play in these games,” Clark said. “I played a couple of games in the last couple years but first real game tonight. First game back is always tough but it was obviously good and we got a good win. Guys were getting open for me when I was carrying the ball. They were working hard off ball and they made my job easy just getting it to them.” The son of former Laker captain Jason Clark, DJ said that he doesn’t feel any pressure to live up to his dad’s legacy with the team. He’s grateful that the coaching staff, several of whom played with his father, already know his game. Clark joins a right side that features prolific veteran Rob Hellyer and young stud Braedon Saris and is looking forward to learning from them. “Hellyer’s obviously a great player, he’s a veteran in the lacrosse world and a very good player so it’s good to learn some things from him.” Of Note - Jake Withers won 12/15 faceoffs - Neither team scored on the power play, with Peterborough 0/2 and Brooklin 0/4 - Brooklin outshot the Lakers 49-42 - Missing in action were Nick Rose, Taite and Holden Cattoni, and Braedon Saris - The Lakers do not have another home game until Thursday, June 25 when Brooklin returns. In the meantime, they will visit Brampton on Thursday, June 18. Stream the game on FloSports! Full Lakers Scoring Rob Hellyer 3-3 Mike Robinson 2-2 Colton Armitage 2-1 Brad McCulley 1-0 Brenden Boyle 0-1 Robert Hope 0-1 Jake Withers 0-1 Liam Vollans 0-1 DJ Clark 0-1 Matt Gilray 0-1 PHOTOS BY ANNA TAYLOR

The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers record fell to 2-3 on Thursday after a 12-10 loss to the Brooklin Lacrosse Club at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. It’s the Lakers’ second consecutive loss after a 9-6 defeat at Oakville on Monday. Brooklin has taken strides to improve their lineup after four consecutive seasons of falling to the Lakers in the MSL semifinals. They had a balanced attack and strong goaltending from Steve Orleman. “They were a problem for us tonight,” said goaltender Nick Rose, who made his first start of the season. “But we feel like we didn’t play at our best. We get them again next week, so we’ll see. We have to come ready to play against anyway.” Indeed, the Lakers face Brooklin next Wednesday at Iroquois Park Sports Centre, and then will face them once again at the PMC on June 25 for the rubber match. Rose made 36 saves in his first start since winning the NLL Cup with the Toronto Rock last month. It was a rough outing on Thursday with the teams going back and forth, neither finding much momentum. “I wasn’t great when it mattered,” Rose said. “I think I had some good moments in the game but especially in the third period I wasn’t on top of my game and that may have been a big difference. Getting back into summer ball is a bit different than the winter game but that’s no excuse; I just have to be better.” Rose recognized that “there’s a standard here in Peterborough and that’s why [he] wanted to come here last year. “A lot of respect for what has been built here. Where we’re at right now isn’t good enough for that standard but as long as we keep building and get to that standard come playoff time then I like where we’re at.” Rob Hellyer, who had four goals in the game, agreed. “We gave away a couple. But it’s game five and there are 18 games in a year so we can turn this around in a hurry.” Hellyer, who leads the team in scoring with 23 points in four games, said in addition to cleaning up small mistakes, one key to a better performance is to stop their opponents in transition. Each possession change saw Brooklin push the ball up the floor extremely fast. “They run,” Hellyer acknowledged. “Every team that we’ve lost to has been running. Nations is good, but the other two teams just constantly run. We have to figure out how to do better, conditioning wise, and just stop those fast breaks because I think they wore us down.” Brooklin led 3-2 after the opening frame. Dylan Hutchison’s second of the season in transition kicked off the Lakers’ scoring, with Brad McCulley hitting the back of the net early in his season debut after serving a four-game suspension from last season’s playoffs. Hellyer scored a pair to start the second, with Taggart Clark and Jakson Raposo responding for Brooklin. McCulley traded goals with Landen Sinfield towards the end of the period which kept BLC up by a goal. Eleven goals were scored throughout the first 40 minutes – and 11 more were scored in a wild third period. The game was tied at sixes and eights before Connor Kearnan and Will MacLeod scored back-to-back for a 10-8 lead. Cam Milligan’s second of the season got one back but Brooklin scored two of the last three to maintain the lead. Junior Returns The Lakers honoured John Grant Jr. prior to the game in advance of his Saturday induction into the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame. One of the best lacrosse players to ever suit up, Grant currently coaches the NCAA DII Lees-McRae men’s lacrosse team in Banner Elk, NC. He made the 15 hour drive several days ago and spent the week watching lacrosse in Peterborough, Whitby and St. Catharines. Of Note - Jake Withers won 15/25 faceoffs - Each team went 1/2 on the power play with the Lakers adding one shorthanded goal - The Lakers outshot Brooklin 50-48 - Holden Cattoni and Adam Jay were added to the IR - The Lakers do not have another home game until Thursday, June 25 when Brooklin returns. In the meantime, the Lakers are on the road to Whitby (Brooklin) on Wednesday, June 10, and will visit Brampton on Thursday, June 18 - Over 900 hotdogs were sold during the team’s first Toonie Dog night! Full Lakers Scoring Rob Hellyer 4-2 Justin Sykes 2-3 Brad McCulley 2-2 Dylan Hutchison 1-0 Cam Milligan 1-0 Taite Cattoni 0-2 Brenden Boyle 0-1 Robert Hope 0-1 Robbie White 0-1 Jake Withers 0-1 Mike Robinson 0-1  PHOTOS BY CHRISTINE LIU