Dickson, Jones on brink of winning their first Mann Cups
Curtis Dickson and Adam Jones have never won a Mann Cup and they seem on a mission to make this their year.
The duo scored three goals each, Dickson coming up big each time the game was on the line, as the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers edged the New Westminster Salmonbellies 11-10 Wednesday night for a 3-2 lead in the bestof-seven series.
Thursday was a day off with Game 6 Friday and if necessary Game 7 on Saturday, both 10:30 p.m. EST starts.
Holden Cattoni also scored three, redeeming himself after being ejected early in Game 4 for illegal equipment (wearing a necklace).
The host Salmonbellies, who led the series 2-0, are pushing Peterborough to the limit each night.
They never seem out of a game. Trailing by four goals on two occasions, they reeled off three straight twice including the game’s final three markers to force frenetic endings. It took a Matt Vinc save with 30 seconds left off Kevin Crowley to seal the win.
“We just outlasted them,” said Lakers head coach Mike Hasen. “We got up early and, I don’t want to say we hung on because I thought we did a good job of getting in lanes defensively, but they came at us with a barrage. We got the ball at the right time in the last 30 seconds and killed the rest of it.”
The Lakers led 7-3 early in the second before New West, led by Mitch Jones’s heroic nine-point effort, scored three second period goals closing the gap to 8-7.
That’s when Jones and Dickson stepped up.
With the Lakers reeling, Jones knocked the ball loose from a New West forward and Dickson scooped it up and took off down the floor beating Alexis Buque to stop the New West wave. Dickson’s tenacity on a loose ball set up the next goal with 41 seconds left in the second. He one-handed a pass to Cattoni who flipped a shot around his back to make it 10-7 after two periods.
The Lakers were outscored 3-1 in the final period but Dickson’s strike at 4:56 proved to be the winner. Cousins Shawn and Turner Evans got the ball to Dickson who bounced off a check to give
Peterborough the four-goal bulge in turned out they needed. Logan Schuss, Brett Mydske and Anthony Malcom scored in succession to create the dramatic finish.
“Curtis has been real good all series long but it seemed when we were kind of getting scrambly, and they were coming back, he put the ball in his stick and he started to carry us,” Hasen said.
“He’s one of the best players in the world,” Jones said, of Dickson. “He’s never had the opportunity to win a Mann Cup and I know he wants it bad. We’re roommates and all we do is talk lacrosse. It’s all about investment and giving yourself to the team. He had some big goals for us tonight.”
Cattoni led the MSL in goals this year but had been relatively quiet in the Mann Cup until Game 5.
“He was fresh tonight so he had a little bit of jump in his step and had something to prove,” Hasen said.
Cattoni said he was definitely motivated by his Game 4 ejection.
“It was a double-edged sword. I’d obviously rather have played and competed with my teammates but there was a little bit of an upside with it being three games in three days of having a little bit fresher legs,” Cattoni said.
“It was awfully disheartening for me to let my teammates down like that over something that is pretty minuscule in the grand scheme of the game. I definitely came out motivated for myself and my teammates tonight.”
The team to score first had won the previous four games and New West jumped to an early 2-0 lead on a power play goal by Joel McCready and Schuss’s shot from the dotted line.
Jones got the Lakers on the board at 6:52 and Cattoni scored on an outside rip on the power play to tie it at 13:17. Zach Currier caught the ‘Bellies napping to score on a transition break from Ian Llord at 14:45.
Connor Robinson briefly tied it at 15:59 but Jones corralled a ball off the boards and beat Alexis Buque at 17:28. Cattoni struck again on a man-advantage at 18;57 for a 5-3 lead after 20 minutes.
The Lakers looked to be in complete control when Shawn Evans bounced a shot home and Jones completed a hat trick with a high shot for a 7-3 lead.
But nothing is ever easy in a Mann Cup as the home team caught fire, particularly Jones, reeling off three straight goals to rally within one. Dickson broke the run only to have Jones drop his third of the period to make it 8-7.