Keep calm and carry on
Lakers say they aren’t rattled after Six Nations Chiefs stave off elimination for two games in a row
Peterborough Century 21 Lakers fans might be feeling uptight the way the MSL final has shifted, but the team remains calm.
After jumping out to a surprising 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven series against the Six Nations Chiefs, the opposition has clearly been the better team the past two games. The Chiefs drew the series to 3-2 with an 8-6 win Tuesday at the Memorial Centre, forcing Game 6 in Oshweken at 8 p.m. Thursday. The Chiefs won the last game there on Sundas 8-1.
“We have a lot of veterans in that dressing room and I don’t think anyone is pushing the panic button,” said Lakers offensive co-ordinator Tracey Kelusky, a veteran of many MSL finals as a player.
“We’re still in the driver’s seat. We’re exactly where we stated we wanted to be. At the start of the year we wanted home floor advantage and we accomplished that and still lead this series 3-2 so nothing changes. We stay even keel here.”
Kelusky says lacrosse is a game of momentum and while Six Nations has it now “we’re a loose ball away from gaining it back.”
The Chiefs defence has been a tough nut to crack the past two games. They’ve been able to keep the Lakers to the outside both with tight, hard-nosed play in close and aggressive pressure on the Lakers’ ball carriers.
Kelusky said it’s key that guys not try to do too much individually.
“You reinforce the trust factor,” he said. “We don’t need anybody to do anything spectacular. We just need a bunch of guys who are willing to go out and work for one another and trust that it’s in that room. I know we have the pieces and the guys to get it done.”
He says the offence also needs to adjust.
“We’ve come across a hot goalie,” he said, of Dillon Ward. “He’s seeing the ball well and stopping the ball well. You have to give credit where it’s due. Their D is playing well and playing physical. Sometimes we’re pushing on a pull door. We’ll adjust our game plan a little bit. We had some good looks (Tuesday) and just didn’t execute.”
On the other side of the floor the Chiefs look to continue what they’ve been doing.
“We had a rough start the first three games but we’ve shown we have a lot of character in that room. We’re just happy to be playing another game,” said Chiefs coach Rich Kilgour.
“I told them before Game 4 that all our goals were still attainable. We wanted to win four games against Peterborough and we can still do that. We have a great group of veterans and they echoed the same thing. It’s not over until it’s over. You get the first one and you go from them. Now that we’ve got the second one I think they might be feeling a little bit of pressure.”
Kilgour said there is a fairly simple reason why his team has got better results the past two games.
“We just started playing harder. I think with our talent level we thought we could just roll the ball out and try when we needed to. Now we’re trying every single shift. We have offensive players running right down the middle and banging bodies, moving their feet the whole time they’re out there and that makes it hard on the defence. It’s all about hard work. We know the talent is there. Now so is the work level. I think we’ve had the better work ethic the last couple of games.”
NOTES: Lakers GM Paul Day would not confirm Wednesday whether John Grant Jr. will play in Game 6. Day said they won’t know their final roster until Thursday. Grant lives and works in Denver and missed Game 5 with work commitments .... Day said there are no suspensions from the last minute fight Tuesday between Chad Tutton and Paul Dawson. Hockey has a rule where fights in the final five minutes lead to suspension, but not in lacrosse, Day said.