Lakers held to 1 goal in loss
Game 5 of MSL final set for Tuesday at Peterborough Memorial Centre
OHSWEKEN – Nobody really expected the Six Nations Chiefs to get swept in the MSL final did they?
Fans may have expected the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers to score more than one goal though Sunday night.
After firing 15 on Thursday night the Lakers offence sputtered in an 8-1 loss as the Chiefs staved off elimination at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena.
Spurred by the return of Cody Jamieson from injury the Chiefs used a 5-0 second period to take control to end the game with seven unanswered goals.
The Lakers, who lead the series 3-1, will try again to close out the Chiefs in Game 5 back at the Memorial Centre on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
“We played like we had a 3-0 lead and a mulligan in our back pocket,” said Lakers’ head coach Mike Hasen. “We couldn’t find much jump or much of anything here tonight.”
The shots were 43-43 but goalie Dillon Ward was impressive after twice being pulled in Game 3..
“They played well. They switched up their back-end a little bit and Ward played like a man possessed. We did hit six or seven posts in the third period alone. It’s not like we didn’t have our chances but they just played extremely well,” said Hasen.
“Their defence played really well and you could tell they had stepped up their intensity generally as a team,” said Lakers’ captain Scott Self. “It was a good wake-up call. The first two games could have gone either way. Maybe we though because we beat up on them so bad in the last game and were up 3-0 that they would roll over. It’s a reminder we are very much in a series and they are very much a good team.”
Six Nations drew first blood at 12:39 when Staats found Keogh dropping down near the goal line and he froze Matt Vinc with a fake before shooting.
Cory Vitarelli tied it with 91 seconds left in the period on a power play as he quick-sticked Josh Currier’s pass. The Lakers outshot the Chiefs 18-14 in the opening frame.
Jamieson, who many thought might not play in the series due to a knee injury, sparked his club early in the second period.
Jamieson wired an outside shot over Vinc’s shoulder 51 seconds into the second starting a flurry of three goals in 2:22 for a 4-1 lead.
“I felt with our backs up against the wall, do or die, it was time to strap them up,” said Jamieson, who wore a knee brace. “Our defence played great. I don’t think they showed it in the last game and they wanted to prove something. We have a lot of pride in that dressing room.”
Keogh was left wide open to bounce a shot home at 1:31 and Ryan Benesch added another 51 seconds later.
The Lakers got into penalty trouble leading to the next two tallies. Staats capped a three-way passing play, with Vinc without a stick, from Dan Dawson and Jamieson at 11:50. His older brother Randy Staats added another, set up by Jamieson, with Shawn Evans off for slashing 1:08 later.
The Chiefs continued the momentum into the third as Austin Staats stretched their run to six goals at 1:25. Benesch broke free of a double-team while ragging the ball short-handed and made it 8-1 at 14:06.