Series with Rock expected to be a close battle
Veteran Lakers squad managed to dig deep for a second effort to keep from losing at home in overtime in Game 1
There was a sense of desperation in the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers’ winning goal on Tuesday night.
Adam Jones’s sudden-death, double-overtime winner in Game 1 of the Major Series Lacrosse final was all about second effort. Brock Sorensen came close to winning it moments earlier on a second effort and Jones chased down the loose ball and evaded a check to find an open lane to the net.
Those second and third possessions are critical in playoff lacrosse and secured an 8-7 win before 2,881 fans at the Memorial Centre.
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They’ll take a 1-0 series lead into Oakville for Game 2 on Thursday at 8 p.m.
“You don’t want to drop the first one especially at home,” Jones said.
“We have home floor advantage so they need to win one here to get the series and we didn’t want to give that one up early.”
It’s only one game but Jones said experience has taught he and his teammates how critical moments like that can be in a series.
“We’re a pretty veteran group,” he said.
“We know how big these overtime games are. You don’t want to give a team like Oakville a lead in the series. If we go back there and get a big win in Oakville then we could possibly get up three at home.”
The Lakers were missing Zach Currier to work commitments but the Rock came so close to winning while missing several key players. Wes Berg and Brad Kri are day-to-day with injuries, Matt Vangalen had a prior commitment. Ryan Benesch and Brett Hickey are not expected to play in the series due to injuries sustained in the regular season, said Rock head coach Matt Sawyer.
He said there is definitely some frustration losing in overtime “but we showed we’re going to be here for a while. We came up here and gave them all they could handle.”
Sawyer said when Jones beat his man out of the corner there was no support there to block his line to the net.
“I thought we had them outmanned in our end and we didn’t do a good job of going over and supporting Dan (Craig),” Sawyer said.
While this is the Rock’s first trip to the final there is plenty of big-game experience on their roster.
“We have a lot of guys who have played in big situations in Minto Cups, NCAAs, NLL championships. They were ready for the moment,” Sawyer said.
Transition is a big part of both teams’ game and moving to Oakville should make for a faster game with benches on the same side of the floor.
“They play well at home and use their floor and benches to their advantage,” said Lakers coach Mike Hasen. “We better make sure we’re playing fast but also playing smart.”
Hasen expects the entire series to mimic Game 1.
“It’s going to be a tight series and like our first series a coin clip,” Hasen said.
“It’s going to be a matter of who executes best.”
Chad Tutton agreed it was important to maintain home floor advantage.
“Game 1 is very important to set the tone especially in doubleovertime,” he said. “We’ll have a short memory. That one is behind us now. All we are focused on is Game 2. Not Game 3 or Game 1 but what is immediately in front of us.
“Oakville is not going away. They’re a very strong team. They work hard. Probably, harder than any team we’ve faced this year. We have to make sure we not only match that but we exceed that.”
In the Western Lacrosse Association final, former Laker Curtis Dickson’s five goals led the Maple Ridge Burrards past the host Victoria Shamrocks 9-7 Tuesday night for a 2-1 lead in their series.