MORE NEWS
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.
The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers’ record fell back to .500 on Tuesday night with a 10-5 loss to the Six Nations Chiefs at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. Their record now sits at 6-6-0, and they are tied for third place in the MSL with Cobourg and Brooklin with six games remaining in the regular season. The Chiefs remain in first place with an 11-0 record. The Lakers return to the ILA on July 28. Heading to the ILA is always tough even when the Chiefs aren’t undefeated. The Lakers put up a great effort through the first half of the game, but the championship experience of the Chiefs outlasted them. Six Nations went up 2-0 early, but the defence settled in and held them off the board for the rest of the opening period. Nick Crowley got the Lakers on the board with his first MSL goal – he took a few steps and then just whipped it past Warren Hill. Matt Gilray tied it 2-2 with 54 seconds left on a fast break goal. Lyle Thompson hit the dunk to open the second and take a 3-2 lead, but the Lakers countered with a pair from Mike Robinson, including an answering dunk. However, less than a minute later, the Chiefs rattled off three in a span of a minute and a half for a 6-4 lead. Six Nations upped their lead to 9-4 before Ryan Lanchbury cut in front of Hill with a crease jump to cut into the lead. Ryan Smith scored his second of the game, on a power play, to secure the win. Lyle Thompson led the Chiefs with a hat trick and one assist. Dhane Smith scored twice and assisted on three others. The Lakers return home to the Memorial Centre on Thursday night to host the Owen Sound North Stars for the first time this season. It’s country night, so get ready to don your plaid and cowboy hats! Tickets are available at the box office or online through Ticketmaster. Of Note - Peterborough was 0/1 on the power play, and Six Nations was 1/3 - Liam Vollans was called up from Ennismore to help round out a shorthanded offence Full Lakers Scoring Mike Robinson 2-1 Ryan Lanchbury 1-0 Nick Crowley 1-0 Matt Gilray 1-0 Daniel Clark 0-2 Jordan Stouros 0-1 Justin Sykes 0-1 Drew Hutchison 0-1
Thursday night at the Memorial Centre, the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers showed the Cobourg Kodiaks who the boss is, beating their Highway 28 rivals 11-3. Cobourg previously beat the Lakers 13-9 on Father’s Day, handing them their first loss in 10 years at the Cobourg Community Centre. The season series is now tied at one game apiece, with the rubber match at the Memorial Centre on July 23. The Lakers (6-5-0) now sit alone in third place with eight games remaining in the regular season – Brooklin and Cobourg are tied for fourth place and just two points behind Peterborough. Everything was clicking for the Lakers on Thursday, and the team was surprised with the return of defender Johnny Pearson after previously thinking he would miss the season due to work commitments. The power play was over 100% and the team’s transition was instrumental in pushing the ball up the floor. “We were moving the ball around really well tonight, moving bodies around, so there was a ton of space to shoot and make plays. We needed that big time,” said lefty forward Brad McCulley, who finished with a pair of goals and three assists. “There have been a couple times we’ve shown we can be really good and other times, maybe it’s a different lineup, different commitments for different guys, it’s just not really a good excuse. But for sure that was one we needed to instill some confidence in the guys and of course it’s always easy getting excited to play on Thursday.” Peterborough led 2-1 after the first on goals from Frank Coyle and McCulley. Coyle’s second goal of the season came as he, Colton Armstrong and Matt Gilray made a break from their own end. “Errant shot went off the boards. Colton had the ball, passed it over to me, I was dead centre in front of the net from about 30 feet out and didn’t think twice, just shot it. Luckily it squeaked in five-hole,” Coyle described. It was the Jr. A Laker graduate’s first goal in front of the home crowd. McCulley then kicked off the scoring in the second period, in which the Lakers scored seven goals while holding the Kodiaks scoreless. Four of their goals were scored on the power play, including two on a major penalty to Nathan Pouliot after a check from behind that sent Taite Cattoni to the dressing room early. “It was nice to see the power play get going because that was not the case against Oakville on Monday,” said McCulley. “You get a guy like Ryan Lanchbury in there and he’s got incredible vision, and Braedon Saris who can shoot, and other guys moving bodies around.” Each team scored twice in the third period but the Lakers didn’t give up any ground. DJ Clark scored his first of the season shorthanded, and Ryan Lanchbury picked up his second goal and seventh point of the game. For the second home game in a row, Drew Hutchison was named first star after making 50 saves. The Lakers are on the road Tuesday to Six Nations before returning home to host Owen Sound next Thursday, July 9. Of Note - Attendance was 2,429 - Shots were even at 53 each - Peterborough was 4/3 on the power play (they scored twice on a major) with one shorthanded goal, and Oakville was 2/8 - Jake Withers won 15/18 faceoffs - The Lakers are on the road to pay their first visit to the first place Six Nations Chiefs (10-0) on Tuesday. They return home next Thursday, July 9 to host the Owen Sound North Stars. Tickets are on sale now at the box office or through Ticketmaster. Full Lakers Scoring Ryan Lanchbury 2-5 Braedon Saris 2-4 Brad McCulley 2-3 Frank Coyle 1-1 Thomas Hoggarth 1-0 Justin Sykes 1-0 Adam Jay 1-0 Daniel Clark 1-0 Robert Hope 0-1 Colton Armstrong 0-1 Dylan Hutchison 0-1 Taite Cattoni 0-1 PHOTOS BY DAVID PICKERING @PICKS_PICS
ALL MSL GAMES STREAM LIVE ON FLO SPORTS
MAJOR SPONSORS
PETERBOROUGH LAKERS YOUTUBE
TICKETS
GRANT THORNTON BOX OFFICE
Phone: 705-743-3561
Online: Purchase Tickets
In person: Peterborough Memorial Centre -
151 Lansdowne St. W. Peterborough, ON K9J 1Y4
