Redmen coach expecting excellent lacrosse
Brooklin looking for first MSL championship since 2000 when they begin playoffs Thursday against the Lakers
Derek Keenan has a good feeling this is the year the Brooklin Redmen break through.
Brooklin hasn’t won the Major Series Lacrosse championship since 2000.
Built around a core of players who won two Minto Cups with the Whitby Warriors under Keenan, they’ve been close in recent years but haven’t been able to break through the wall put up by the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers and Six Nations Chiefs who have shared the MSL crown for the past six years.
Last year, the Redmen gave the Lakers, who went on to win the Mann Cup, all they could handle in a gruelling six-game series. That was without the offensive superstars Mark Matthews and Shayne Jackson the Redmen recruited back to their fold this year.
The Redmen are now made up of players Keenan either coached to a National Lacrosse League title with the Saskatchewan Rush or to the Minto Cup. They’ve shown they know how to win, says Keenan.
A 7-8-1 regular season record is irrelevant since Brooklin never really floored a full lineup all season. Now is when it counts and Keenan is confident heading into Game 1 of their semifinal against the Lakers 8 p.m. Thursday at the Memorial Centre.
“Without Matthews and Jackson last year we competed really hard for six games,” said Keenan, prior to leaving Friday for a golf trip to Ireland which will see him miss Game 1.
“Now we add those two to our offence and that makes a huge difference.
“It’s going to be difficult because Peterborough is a good team. I think overall, the four (playoff ) teams are very good teams and anybody can win it.”
Keenan believes the talent is there in goal, on defence and at offence. The biggest challenge for his team, he says, may simply be in believing they can win.
“There is a bit of a stigma there with Peterborough and Six Nations that they’re at the top of the world but I’m hoping it’s time for a change there,” Keenan said.
Peterborough held a 2-1-1 edge in the regular season series but none of the games featured full rosters for both teams.
The last meeting in Peterborough Brooklin built a 6-0 lead but ended up losing 14-11.
“We had our best offensive lineup,” Keenan said, “but then we had five or six (affiliated players) on our back-end. Eventually, they’re smart enough to figure out who to go after and the game turned. We scored 11 that night and that should win you the game.”
Their last meeting in Whitby the Redmen won 16-7 but both teams were missing players at the world championships.
“We put it to them pretty good but they didn’t have their best lineup,” Keenan said.
It won’t be until the clubs floor their best lineups over the next two weeks that a true measure can be taken.
“It’s going to be a beauty,” Keenan said.
“The lacrosse is going to be excellent. I’m not going to make any predictions but I just think we have a really good opportunity here. This is an opportunity that may not come around again for a while.”
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series will be Tuesday at the PMC. The series switches to Whitby’s Iroquois Park Sports Complex for Games 3 and 4 on Aug. 8 and 10.
If necessary, Game 5 is Aug. 13 in Peterborough, Game 6 is Aug. 15 in Whitby and Game 7 is at the PMC on Aug. 16.
All games are 8 p.m. starts. Tickets in four-game packages are available now at the Memorial Centre box office and online at www.memorialcentre.ca. Season ticket holders have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to purchase their reserved seats. Single game tickets go on sale 9:30 a.m. Thursday.