Timbermen season frustrations continue
What started with great promise has devolved into a frustrating season for the Peterborough Timbermen.
They sat in first place in the Arena Lacrosse League with a 5-2 record halfway through the campaign after winning just one game last season. They haven’t won a game since.
Their season hit a low point when the last-place Ohsweken Bears snapped a 10-game losing streak by beating the Timbermen, 15-11, to extend Peterborough’s losing slide to seven games Saturday in what may be their last game at Millbrook Arena.
The loss combined with the Six Nations Snipers’ 23-11 win Sunday over the Paris RiverWolves dropped Peterborough (5-9) to seventh in the standings.
The Timbermen will face the second-place Brampton Express in a one-game quarterfinal at 8 p.m. Friday at the Brampton Memorial Arena.
In other matchups, the first-place Whitby Steelhawks face the Bears at 5 p.m. Saturday at Oshawa’s Children’s Arena while the third-place Oshawa Outlaws host Six Nations at 1 p.m. in the same facility. The fourth-place Toronto Monarchs face Paris at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Ohsweken.
ALL founder Paul St. John said he approached the City of Peterborough about getting games at the new Misken Law twin-pad arena once it opens, but was told neither twin-pad would be available and only the Memorial Centre was. It’s not the first choice because of the expense involved in renting the facility.
Timbermen coach/GM Joe Sullivan said he was informed Saturday that Cavan-Monaghan Township plans to demolish the Millbrook Arena so it will not be available next season.
The Timbermen took to the floor missing a number of regulars and players they had earlier in the season.
Some are good-news stories as goalie Thomas Kiazyk was activated by the National Lacrosse League’s Saskatchewan Rush this week, Cam Milligan joined the Toronto Rock for a road trip to Buffalo and Aaron Woods earned a spot with the NLL’s Halifax Thunderbirds. There were some injuries to players like Cole Hanrahan and Jack MacAlpine, who Sullivan wanted to give some time to heal before playoffs. A number of other players simply stopped coming out.
“We grab guys from the east — Ottawa, Montreal, Akwesasne, Cornwall — and they come out with the greatest of intentions, and when they’re all here we’re a very good team,” said Sullivan. “When you start to lose players up into the National Lacrosse League, which is what we’re here for, it creates big holes.
“The league is here for development. I think that’s what we’re doing, but we’re not deep enough without those players.”
Ohsweken started with 12 runners and lost one to injury, but rode the goaltending of Sam Forbes and some offensive heroics from Lucas Beaver, with four goals and four assists, and Heron Snow with two goals and five assists. Trailing 4-3, Ohsweken ran off five unanswered goals to lead 8-4 at halftime. Peterborough didn’t get closer than two in the second half.
It’s tough for players like Parker Sands who show up every week to see the fluctuation in the Timbermen’s lineup.
“It’s a little hard to get some chemistry going,” said Sands. “Sometimes guys are coming from fourplus hours away, so they don’t really feel like coming at the end of the year, which sucks. We’re working through it. It’s definitely frustrating when they show up when they feel like it.”
Riley Curtis had a goal and six assists for Peterborough and Dylan Goddard picked up four goals and an assist. Aaron Bradshaw chipped in four assists, Fred Hartley two goals and two assists and Jake Gasperetti fired two goals and added an assist, while Holden Lowes, Colton McNutt and Nathan Schultzkie also scored.
Koichi Nakamura and Jared Downey had two assists each, with singles to Kaleb Bingley, Justin Bragg, Spencer Corkery, goalie Ethan Woods and Sands.
Also scoring for Ohsweken were Dan Kritausky (2-4), Kaine Kettle (1-5), Eddie Renaoud (3-2), Kent Baker-Printup (2-2), Bjorn Diellmann (1-1) and Dawitt Martin (0-1).