Lakers bounce back from rare loss
The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers bounced back from Wednesday’s rare loss and maintained a six-point lead over second-place Oakville in the MSL standings with a convincing 10-3 victory over the visiting Cobourg Kodiaks on Thursday.
Holden Cattoni led the charge with two goals and three assists as the Lakers wore throwback yellow jerseys to honour the 1978 Mann Cup champion Red Oak team before 3,382 fans at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
Adam Jones, with two goals and an assist, was named player of the game in his first game of the season since being injured while playing for the NLL’s Toronto Rock in April.
He admitted he was a bit nervous and rusty but got a big boost from the nostalgia of having the 1978 team – including his father Brian – in the house.
“It’s good to be back. It was a special night,” said Adam, who just recently became a father himself.
What’s that like?
“A lot of early mornings,” he chuckled.
Thursday’s game, which maintains the Laker’s home unbeaten streak, was a “good team win” after a 16-7 loss in Brooklin the night before, Adam said, adding it is the kind of play the team wants to carry into a home-andhome series with Six Nations next week.
Defenceman Brett Coons agreed. He also got a boost from playing in front of the legends, including Jim Johnson – his coach on the James Gang of Ennismore. “It’s always nice playing in front of those guys.”
Corey Small fired home a feed from Turner Evans to score the first goal of the game at 8:08 of the first period.
Three minutes later, Josh Currier charged the net and snuck a shot through the legs of Cobourg starting goaltender Davide Diruscio. Kyle Killen got the Kodiaks on the board 30 seconds after that, before the Laker goal was announced.With just over three minutes left, Holden Cattoni scored on a fast break.
NOTES: Goaltender Matt Vinc, who made 29 saves, was named defensive player of the game.… Fan favourite Shawn Evans did not play – he was coaching a clinic in Rhode Island.… Oakville, which has two games in hand, defeated Brampton 11-6 on Thursday.
Lakers 10 Kodiaks 3
Lakers (11-2-1): Holden Cattoni (2-3), Corey Small (1-3), Kyle Buchanan (0-3), Adam Jones (2-1), Josh Currier (2-0), Mark Steenhuis (0-2), Turner Evans (0-2), Cam Milligan (2-0), Mitch Ogilvie (0-1), Jeff Swift (0-1), Brock Sorensen (0-1), Ian Llord (0-1), Andrew Suitor (1-0), Matt Vinc (0-1)
Kodiaks (1-10-2): Ryan Lee (1-2), Kyle Killen (1-1), Brandon Robinson (0-1), Connor Goodwin (1-0), Dylan Hutchison (0-1)
Next for the Lakers: Visit Six Nations Tuesday at 8 p.m.