Lakers claw their way back into Mann Cup

The Peterborough Lakers trailed early in game three but were able to claw their way back into the series with 14-10 win over the Langley Thunder.

The Thunder still hold a two games-to-one series lead but for the Lakers this was the first time this series they played a full sixty minutes of lacrosse.

“I think our team defense stepped up huge tonight,” said Lakers GM and coach Jamie Batley. “Mike Thompson played great coming in for relief of Carlson.”

Tyler Carlson was chased from the game early in the first period and struggled to find an answer for the high-powered Langley offence.

The Lakers defense hadn’t looked sharp up until game three and were guilty of playing undisciplined lacrosse and seemed to step up their game in front of Thompson

“We didn’t let them go on their late game run,” said Batley. “We really dug down in the third period and went on a run of our own and I think we worked harder than them (Langley) tonight.”

The Lakers found themselves down 4-3 after the first period but regrouped and played much more disciplined lacrosse and outscored Langley 11-6 in the final two periods.

“I thought the Lakers elevated their game tonight,” said Langley head coach Rod Jensen. “Give credit to Batley. He must have really got his guys geared up in between periods.”

Penalty trouble and undisciplined play hurt the Lakers in the first period but they were able to turn a page in the second period and outworked the Thunder.

“I thought we stepped up and did the things we were talking about,” said Lakers defender Brad Self. “It’s one thing to talk about the things we want to do, like play a complete team game, stay disciplined and keep of the refs but I thought our defense stepped it up tonight and our faceoff team was unbelievable.”

Langley thought they had the Lakers early in the game but got away from doing the things that have made them successful.

“We had them early in the third but the biggest thing for us is to stay positive and stay focused,” said Langley forward Joel McCready. “Their transition has hurt us and we need to get back a lot quicker and cut of their bench.”

Jordan MacInstosh was back in the line-up for game three after being a healthy scratch in game two. He won many key face-offs and contributed offensively adding three goals and was named the player of the game.

Athan Iannucci has been unstoppable this series scoring 4 goals and was named the Thunder player of the game.