Special delivery from Currier
Josh Currier scores in sudden death second overtime period as Lakers edge Redmen 9-8 to take series lead; Evan Kirk makes 56 saves on 64 shots
Josh Currier had a quiet night, but he couldn’t have scored a much louder goal than his double overtime winner to give the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers a 9-8 win over the Brooklin Redmen and a 2-1 lead in their Major Series Lacrosse semifinal Tuesday night in front of 2,701 fans at the Memorial Centre.
Junior A callup Tanner Cook had given the Redmen the upper hand with probably the biggest goal of his life 5:34 into the first overtime. Things looked bleak for Peterborough when Bryce Sweeting took a roughing call with 2:37 to play in the extra frame then Peterborough’s challenge of the legality of Mike Poulin’s mask failed. The resulting delay of game penalty put them down 5 on 3.
They almost turned the disadvantage in their favour when Ian Llord scooped a loose ball and hit Dylan Evans streaking up the floor, but Poulin got his foot on Evans’ shot. On their next possession, a little luck went the Lakers way. Shawn Evans’ lever pass down the alley to Dickson went past everyone and into the net.
That set the stage for the second overtime -- this one sudden death -- where Currier suddenly found himself unchecked on top of the crease and took a pass from Kyle Buchanan.
“I don’t know how I got wide open but somehow I was wide open in the middle and Buchy hit me. I just put it in the net,” Currier said, noting that shots hadn’t been falling for him lately. “That’s kind of my bread and butter on the doorstep so I was glad that’s where I got to shoot from.”
Evan Kirk had a huge bounce back game for the Lakers after being pulled when he struggled in Peterborough’s game one loss. He made some big saves early that helped rebuild his confidence, but being able to focus solely on this playoff series helped, too.
“A shaky (game one) for sure. I had a lot going on that day, I was traded in the NLL. I shouldn’t say it but it was probably the last thing on my mind trying to get focused on the game was pretty tough,” Kirk said.
He was exhausted after the game in which he made 56 saves on 64 shots. “It felt like a hundred,” he quipped, adding “It’s a tough win, it’s a team win. That brings you together in a tough series like this and it’s a tough loss for them, so it’s an upper hand on a lot of levels.”
Poulin may have been even better, stopping 69 of the 78 shots with which the Lakers peppered him. Both goalies posted long shutout stretches. Neither team scored in an 11-minute stretch of the first period.
Then, after Ryan Keenan had tied the score 5-5 at 12:30 of the second period, the teams went 19:55 before Mark Steenhuis stayed up for an offensive shift and caught Poulin going the wrong way after a behind the back pass from Shawn Evans, who led all scorers with two goals and five assists for seven points.
After three straight one-goal games, this tight series heads back to Brooklin for Game 4 Thursday night before what should be a large and raucous crowd as part of the Ontario Lacrosse Festival. Game 5 is back in Peterborough on Monday.