Game 7: Lakers-10 Chiefs-3

The Lakers came out with a big 10-3 victory in game 7 at home in front of a capacity crowd and move on to the Ontario Finals for the 10th straight season.

The Laker's came out and scored the first goal. With a minute in, Scott Self puts one top shelf. Six Nations would soon tie it up, as Colin Doyle slips Roger Vyse the ball and he slips a back hander low past Goodleaf. Then 4-0n-4, it's a case of deja-vu with Doyle feeding Vyse once again for his second of the period. Referee, Grant Spies, fails to blow his whistle twice, ignoring blatant calls while instead focused on chewing his gum and looking the other direction. He needs to either get rid of the whistle and just watch the game - or toss the gum and do some refereeing. Behind 2-1 in the dying seconds of the first period, the Lakers Gavin Prout makes a last diving attempt across the crease and nets one, but Referee McCauley is quick to call him in the crease. The Laker fans disagreed, but the period ends with the Chiefs up 2-1.

The Lakers would shut out the Chiefs in the 2nd and score 5 of their own. It is John Grant Jr who would start it and finish it off, shuffling from the back of the net to the crease and scores to even the game at 2-2. The Lakers take back the lead as Mark Steenhuis scores one in transition from Kyle Sorenson. Then 20 seconds later it is Grant Jr forcing a turnover deep in the Chiefs zone and puts one in for his 2nd of the game. With a 2 goal lead the Lakers get ruffed up, not by the Chiefs but the ref's. Spies spits out his gum and McCauley get's his mind of managing the game and The Lakers are forced into killing two 5-0n-3's power plays. They would also get the short end of the stick on a few weak possession calls. Baby Evans gives the fans something to cheer about putting the lakers up by 3 as he lets a rocket goal sail past the goalie. The Lakers would get another goal from Grant Jr, with an outside skipper that fools Chiefs goalie Poulin.

In the 3rd, down 7-2 the Chiefs would get on the board, it is Garret Billings with a backhand that finds the back of the net. The Lakers get one back with Geoff Snider burying one on a breakaway. Then a few minutes later, Cory Vitarelli, keeps the play alive on a loose ball in the corner, coming to help is Tracy Kelusky who scoops up the loose ball and finds Shawn Evans in front of the goal for his second of the game. John Grant Jr would score his 3rd of the game on the power play and then the Chiefs elect to pull Poulin in favour of Vinc. Down 9-3 the chiefs pull the goalie and try to get their offence going but it is little too late and Steve Toll puts the empty netter to make it 10-3. We might hear of Billy Dee Smith spending a night or two in the drunk tank after this one, or possibly appearing live on Jerry Springer. In typical fashion, the loose canon went off the handle even going after his own brother-in-law, and then with 4 seconds left trying to take on the Sorenson brothers, and the entire Lakers bench. What a mess. The ref's called the game after that. I wonder if Billy Dee's players and his friends get tired of picking up after him? He made a fool of himself tonight trying to fight his way to some personal victory, but what a failure and an embarrassing scene. He could be a great player if he would take the high road but instead he failed. So did former Laker Ryan Cousins, who tried to fight his way out of the game.

The Lakers now await the winner of the Brampton/Brooklyn series.

For Peterborough, they have won the Ontario title 5 times in the last 10 years --to note, the other 5 victories have gone to Brampton. (I bet we'll see them square off again this year). Out West, the New Westminster Salmon Bellies are squaring off in a best of 7 series with Langley Thunder. The Salmon Bellies lost to the Lakers last year in the Canadian Mann Cup Championships.

Lakers up 3-2 is Semi final Series with Chiefs

Despite being down for most of the game. The Peterborough Lakers turned it on in the end and found a way to win. The Lakers defeated the Six Nations Chiefs 9-7, before a crowd of 3,397 lacrosse fans at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. The Lakers now have now come back and won 3 straight, giving them a 3-2 series lead, with game 6 going Sunday in Six Nations.

It was John Grant Jr who opened the scoring, Tracy Kelusky recieved a pass from Cory Vitarelli who looked to shoot, dragging the Chiefs goalie to the top of the crease, where Kelusky instead found Grant jr down across the floor on the crease with a wide open goal. A minute later the Six Nations Chiefs would get on the board. It was Stephen LeBlanc scoring one with a second to go on the shot clock. The Lakers looked like they had defended well and with a second remaining on the shot clock, LeBlanc threw a desperate underhand from the top and it found its way into the back of the net, a goal Goodleaf didn't see, as LeBlanc used his man as a screen. Just over two minutes later, the Chiefs would take their first lead of the game. Stephen Keough would let a rocket go from the top right side, beating Goodleaf over his shoulder. The Lakers would answer back, Tracy Kelusky would put one top corner with beauty "old-time" bounce shot that skipped over the shoulder of Mike Poulin. The Six Nations Chiefs would begin to enforce their will on offence, it was Cody Jamieson setting up a one one vs Daryl Gibson and made a nice spin move and beat Goodleaf with a running shot down low. The Chiefs would score again, it was Roger Vyse this time setting the nice pick and roll, and receiving a dish pass from Jamieson, Vyse would bury one inside to extend the lead to 4-2. The Lakers would have their chances early on, John Tavares hit 3 posts in the first period, 1 cross bar and two ringers. The Lakers outshot the Chiefs early, but Poulin would make several big saves to keep Six Nations on top. Finally, Kyle Clancy forced a shot on net and Tracy kelusky collected the rebound on the doorstep and put it over the shoulder of Poulin.

Six Nations got the scoring started in the 2nd period as Cory Bomberry beat his man inside to the crease and Colin Doyle fed him with a back hand pass and Bomberry fired a shot past Goodleaf. Then it was LeBlanc unleashing a cannon shot from no mans land. The laser beam from LeBlanc found the top corner a good 40 feet outside. Down 6-3 Tracy Kelusky would collect a his hat-trick, scoring in transition on a nice pass from Grant Jr. The Chiefs would get one back. It would be Colin Doyle restoring the 3 goal lead with his own outside blast. Then at the 9 minute mark the Chiefs muscle head, Drew Candy would take a dirty head shot at Shawn Evans, drilling him across the face with a cross-check in front of the net. Evans would need help off the floor. The officials assessed a 2 minute minor for high sticking. The officials tonight, let' call them Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum did a good job staying out of the game, in fact they didn't want to make a call, they almost refused to make a calls, ignoring blatant calls right in front of them. The ref's were in over their heads. Anyways, to the dirty hit, this was a momentum killer for the Chiefs. Following the cheap shot the Lakers would go on a 5 goal run. It was Mark Steenhuis, filling in for Shawn Evans on the the Power-Play, Steenhuis let a sidearm blast go from the right shooter. Scott Evans would tally late in the 2nd, driving his man low and putting one past Poulin. At the end of 2, it would read 7-6 for the Chiefs.

In the 3rd, it was all Lakers. The Chiefs looked gassed. They had lost all momentum. Shawn Evans would get in on the scoring, drawing a double team on the right side, he would find Cory Vitarelli cutting thru the middle and tying the game at seven. After trailing for most the game the Lakers would get their 2nd lead of the game. Scott Evans would unleash an underhand shot from the top that Poulin did not see. With under a minute to go in the game and down a goal, The Chiefs would pull their goalie in favour of the extra attacker. It would back fire, as Brad Self picked up a loose ball and went the entire floor and scoring on Colin Dole who raced back into the crease and did his best to play goal.

Following the game several Six Nations players left the bench including Candy, Billy Dee Smith and back up goalie Matt Vinc. A crowd grew in front of the Lakers bench, and some punches were being thrown. The Lakers head coach Jamie Batley put his foot down and marched in between his players and the Chiefs and helped tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum separate the 2 teams.

Lakers Run out of Steam

Peterborough Lakers vs Six Nations Chiefs Gm 1

The Lakers would lose game 1 at home in overtime by a score of 14-9. The Chiefs had the lead early and then it became a see-saw match that saw the lead change 7 times but eventually the Chiefs would break through in the end. Outscoring the Lakers 14-9 and 6-1 in the overtime period.

Game recap:

1st Period - The Lakers finished the 1st period up 2-1. However it was Six Nations who got on the board first. Colin Doyle fed a pass inside to Steven Keogh who fired a turn around bouncer thru the legs of Angus Goodleaf. The Lakers would pepper Matt Vinc early on and finally, Shawn Evans would draw a double team and slide a pass up and it would go across to the left side to a wide open Kyle Clancy on the crease who went far side top corner to even the game at 1-1. The Lakers would score again with 15 seconds to go, Mark Steenhuis would pick up a John Grant jr rebound on the doorstep and bury it top corner stick side on an irate Matt Vinc who pleaded that Steenhuis was in the crease.

2nd Period - Off the opening faceoff, Geoff Snider would win the draw to himself and then find Brad Self, who fired anunderhand shot passed Vinc. Less than a minute later Cody Jamieson would get the Six Nations Chiefs back within one, as he makes a diving effort across the crease and puts it low past Goodleaf. Jamieson would get back to back goals scoring his 2nd goal of the period on the fast break with a well placed shot from the outside, that would sneak passed Goodlead. With the Laker on the power play the Chiefs would take the lead back for the 2nd time, capitalizing with a short handed goal, catching the Lakers on a bad change was Garret Billings giving the Chiefs a 4-3 lead. Scott Evans would tie the game for the Lakers pocketing a crosse crease feed from Cory Vitareli on a 5 on 3 powerplay. Tied 4-4 after 2.

3rd Period - Stephen Leblanc gives the chiefs their 3rd lead of the game on a strong individual effort taking his man Kyle Sorenson and dragging across the crease and dropping one in the back of the net. The Lakers will even the score as Shawn Evans drives the middle and finds Tracy Kelusky on the crease and Kelusky goes top shelf and draws the penalty as he receives giant hit from behind while finishing the play. The Chiefs gave the Lakers their 7th power-play of the night. But it was the Chiefs who would score their 2nd shorthanded goal of the game, it is Craig Point putting one in unassisted and giving the Chiefs 6-5 lead. Mark Steenhuis would get one back, picking up a loose ball out along the boards and then beating his man to the net and bounced a shot that would beat Vinc. Tracy Kelusky put the Lakers in the lead with an overhand shot from the slot and the Lakers are up 7-6 and go back on the power-play. This time its John Grant jr scoring his 1st of the game as he and Vitarelli shift spots and Grant fires a quick bounce shot from the crease with the assist from Vitarelli. Colin Doyle would bring the Chiefs back within one, scoring a beauty fade-away falling goal, sliding a back hand past Goodleaf. With 47 secs left the Chiefs down a goal, they call a time-out and in true heroic fashion Doyle ties it up with his 2nd goal of the night with the extra attacker. Then with 26 seconds left the Lakers have the ball and call their own time-out but can't convert. 8-8 after 3 periods.

Over Time - The Lakers would go up first in OT. Tracy Kelusky would score on a feed from John Grant and Shawn Evans. Then from their on, its all Chiefs. They would tie it, as a defensive breakdown left Steven keogh all alone in front and makes it 9-9. 12 seconds later Keogh would get his 3rd of the game with a nice over hand shot from the shooter position and the Chiefs have a 10-9 lead. The Chiefs go up 11-9 as Stephen LeBlanc beats his man and gets the pass cross floor and scores a nice over hand shot. The Chiefs would get a powerplay goal as Craig Point unloads a blast from the outside, going top-shelf past Goodleaf. Craig Conn and Point would score late goals, pouring salt in int the wounds of the lakers.

Rough stuff at the end, Sid Smith goes after Scott Evans and they go at it. Evans cuts Smith above the eye with a big punch. Matt Vinc and Shawn Evans get tangled up but nothing comes of it, just a few how do you do's and let me wash your face for you.

Game 2 is Friday in Six Nations

Lakers Vs Chiefs in MSL Semi-Finals

The Peterborough Lakers will take on the Six Nations Chiefs in the 2nd round of the 2011 Major Series Lacrosse Playoffs

The Chiefs will Travel to Peterborugh Thursday August 4th, game time 8pm.

The Chiefs are hot off their defeat of the K-W Kodiaks, defeating them 3-1 in their best of 5 series. The Lakers who finished the season in first place and 6 points ahead of the 4th place Chiefs.

Head to Head

The Lakers defeated the Chiefs 3 games to 1 in their season series and outscored them 40-30 in those 4 games. If the Lakers can continue to avg 10 goals a game and hold their opponent to 7.5 goals -- they will win....uh but yeah that is obvious. It will also be hard to do. The Lakers, having sat out the first round with a bye will need to find a groove and the Chiefs, well they are already in one.

Game Breakers

1.Six Nations - Colin Doyle 16 points in his last 3 playoff games

2.Six Nations - Matt Vinc team Canada Gold Medal Box Lacrosse Goalie

3.Six Nations - Craig Point Sharp shooter

1.Peterborough - John Grant jr. best offensive player in the game

2.Peterborough - Shawn Evans All time Mann Cup Assists record holder

3.Peterborough - Geoff Snider face-off specialist

Advantage

Peterborough Lakers

Prediction

Lakers in 7

The Series Schedule

Game 1 - Thursday August 4th at the Memorial Ctr (Peterborough) 8pm

Game 2 - Friday August 5th at the ILA (Six Nations) 8pm

Game 3 - Sunday August 7th at the Memorial Ctr (Peterborough) 7pm

Game 4 - Tuesday August 9th at the ILA (Six Nations) 8pm

Game 5 - Wednesday August 10th at the Memorial Ctr. (Peterborough) 8pm (if necessary)

Game 6 - Sunday August 14th at the ILA (Six Nations) 2pm (if necessary)

Game 7 - Monday August 15th at the Memorial Ctr. (Peterborough) 8pm (if necessary)

Lakers Get Dumped!

The Lakers had nothing to lose except the game itself.

A Recap of the Action:

Brampton got things rolling and went up two goals early. It was then midway into the first the Lakers would get on the board with a powerply marker by John Tavares. Brampton would extend the lead to 2 goals again, but only momentarily as Scott Evans would bury one in close and bring the deficit back to one, Evy pocketed the goal with only 3.2 secs to go in the period.

The 2nd period would start late. It was speculated Chief official Gardonio, was plugged up with a stubborn bout of constipation. He needed to be checked out by the Doctor. He would return 10 pounds lighter and the game could resume. It was mentioned the constipation may have led to his early whistle-blowing, for he may of been trying to loosen the large intestine by blowing down on the whistle -- we don't know for sure. Gardonio wasn't available for comment after the game and I wasn't going there!

When the period begun, Brampton would get the scoring going early, McClure pocketed one on a nice individual move, a little dip and dunk, to retain another two goal lead. That gap would be closed quickly. The Lakers caught Shawn "Baby" Evans who riffled one underhand past Cosmo. But, Brampton would go on a 3 goal run and extend it to a 4 goal lead, their largest of the game. Peterborough would pull starting goalie Angus Goodleaf in favour of new-comer Pat Campbell. This move seemed to spark the Lakers as they would go on their own 3 goal run and escape the 2nd period down 7-6.

To the 3rd, Mark Steinhuis would tie things up with a cross crease goal. The Lakers goalie Campbell looked good in relief he would make some big saves and pull in a handful of loose balls in front of the crease. He was the Lakers MVP of the game and he kept it close until Brampton would go on a 3 goal run again. John Grant Jr. had many chances, however he seemed infatuated with Cosmos five hole but couldn't put one by him until he went bottom corner and the Lakers would leave it at that. They just didn't have the fight in them. While down 10-8 and the goalie pulled the Lakers would give up an empty net goal and Brampton would get a crucial 11-8 victory.

Brampton deserved the win tonight. They had more consistency between the pipes and their offence was connecting. The Lakers looked sloppy and forced many turnovers. There were 3,169 fans on hand. The fan comment of the game was, "Scott (Evans) has put on a lot of weight since last season". But in Scott's defence the entire team looked sluggish.

Going into tonights game the Lakers had first place locked up already and a bye into the 2nd round of playoffs. Brampton had much more on the line. They are still battling it out with Brooklyn for 2nd place.

A look at the standings. Brampton and Brooklyn both sit in 2nd with 24 points and 1 game. Brampton finish vs Six Nations and Brooklyn take on Ajax. If Brampton and Brooklyn both lose their final games and Six Nations wins out; we could then have all 3 teams with 24 points in a tie for second.

Peterborough will get a well deserved break.

The Jr A Lakers are in the playoffs they are taking on the Orangeville Northmen in the 2nd round of the OLA Jr A series Lacrosse.

Lakers win 2 On the Road

Six Nations - The Lakers were in Six Nations Saturday afternoon and managed to pick up a crucial but controversial victory. The game was called early...Why, what..how? you might ask, well the answer is one for the story books.

Here's what happened: Midway thru the 3rd period chief referee Sett and Holingsworth called a stoppage to the game as they had to kick out the time keeper and no replacement could be found. At that point in the game the score was 10-8 in favour of the Lakers.

10:02 into the the 3rd period, Six Nations player Craig Conn was given an illegal cross-checking penalty. The Six Nations bench was not pleased with the call and nor was Conn. They were fed up. The officials at this point had already kicked Lakers Coach Batley out of the game for questioning a call early in the first period. It seemed the ref would not allow any dialogue between himself, te players and the coaches. I had never seen anything like it. Now, Conn was given an extra unsportsmanlike penalty and then he was also given a game misconduct and ejected.

Already, Six Nations defender Billy Dee Smith had been given an unpsortsman-like penalty for arguing a call. Six Nations were livid. They couldn't believe it. The official wasn't going to listen to anybody. It only got worse, Six Nations Cody Jamieson, who had also previously been given an unsportsman-like penalty took objection to the call and he was also given a 2nd unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and then further a gross misconduct call and was ejected from the game. At this point the referee tried to go to the penalty box and report the calls to time keeper but the time keeper wouldn't listen to the official, the time keeper was fed up as well and while the referee was reporting the calls to him thru the peep hole in the glass, the timekeeper gave him "the middle-finger". The official and the time keeper had some words. The referee asked the time keeper to co-operate but the them time keeper again gave the ref the one finger salute again!

So even he the time keeper was ejected from the game. At this point the referee gave the Six Nations team 5 minutes to find a replacement timekeeper but nobody would be found and the game was called with just under 10 minutes to go in the 3rd period. As the Lakers were gathered at their bench the ref's came over and said the game was finished they didn't waste anytime hitting the showers. The Lakers get 2 hard fought points after trailing 7-5 at the end of 2 periods of play.

Kitchener - The Lakers then travelled to Kitchener-Waterloo on tuesday night and defeated the Kodiaks 11-9. Shots on goal were even 49-48 favouring the Lakers. Kevin Crosswell got the win in the net. Newly acquired goaltender Pat Campbell was the back-up for the Lakers. (He was acquired in a trade from Ajax for Steve Hutchins and a draft pick) John Tavares had 3 goals and 3 assists. Tracey Kelusky had 2g's and 3a's, transition horse Brad Self had 2 goals and Gavin Prout was back in the line-up and had a shorthanded goal.

Next actions for the Lakers Thursday night at the Memorial Centre where they host the last place Ajax (should be Sr. B) Rock.

Lakers Double Brooklyn 14-7

Peterborough-Lakers looked to send a message last night after loosing their first home game of the season tuesday night to the Six Nations Chiefs. The Lakers came out strong thursday night before a crowd of over 3,000 and delivered a commanding 14-7 blowout of the Brooklyn Redmen. With the victory last night the Lakers move back into a tie for first place in the MSL with the Redmen. The Lakers and Redmen have been in a see-saw battle for top spot since the early goings but the Redmen have largely been overachieving as the other top clubs like Six Nations, Brampton and Peterborough have been missing key players early on. The Laker had a few key players defensively back in the line-up last night, specifically Mac Allen, a tenacious defender who can pressure the ball anywhere on the floor and can win face-offs, going 4 for 5 last night.

The Lakers were first to get on the score sheet, Lakers Kyle Sorensen and Allen both took penalties 25 seconds into the game. The intimidation factor? I dunno, the Lakers managed to score one with two men down, as Steenhuis got loose in front of the net and Shawn Evans made a nice pass from John Tavares. The Lakers would go into the the first intermission with a 4-2 lead. (It should of been 4-1 but the Lakers managed to push one into their own net).

The Lakers continued to look strong and Brooklyn looked like they all needed a nap. (Brooklyn played a game the night before vs Kitchener but still can't compete at the Lakers level). After 2 periods of play it was 9-5. Peterborough would outscore Brooklyn 6-2 in the final period and get the victory.

Lakers face-off specialist Jeff Snider had some early success in the face-off circle finishing 9-15. I believe Snider could of went 15-15 but the difference being, the face-offs Snider lost, he in fact controlled the draw but it was Brooklyn who got to the loose ball first. Instead of lining up beside their man on the line, the Lakers kept only 1 man on the wing and the other 3 players all cherry picked near the offensive crease, well behind their brooklyn counterparts. It was stupid, and the players and Coach Batley only adjusted this when the Lakers had Mac Allen was taking the draws.

The Lakers out-shot the Redmen 60 -46. Angus Goodleaf was given the start for the Lakers this game and made 39 saves and getting his 4th win of the season.

Next game for the Lakers is this saturday when they travel to Six Nations. They return home next thursday to face the Ajax Rock.