 |
| CLax scoring champ Corey Fowler's 4 goals weren't enough for the Six Nations Chiefs, who fell 9-8 to Brooklin. |
It seemed like a good idea at the time,
but Cody Jamieson may have been reconsidering after the fact.
The Six Nations Chiefs led the Brooklin Redmen 5-4 with 7:39 to play
in the second period Wednesday night when referees Brent McCauley
and Stephen Line made the proper decision to suspend play
because slippery floor conditions were making it unsafe to continue.
It was announced over the PA system that the game was being called,
the teams lined up and shook hands and headed to their dressing
rooms. But Jamieson had an idea that bore fruit. Officials checked
the other pads in the Iroquois Park Sports Centre and found that Pad
3 was available as a game had just finished there. So the teams and
fans headed over and completed what turned out to be the game of the
year so far in Major Series Lacrosse, a 10-9 Brooklin win that leaves
them as the only undefeated team in the league.
Six Nations pulled out to a 3-goal lead
in the final half of the third period and, with Brandon Miller
playing very well in net, looked to have control of the game. But as
Brooklin's Shawn Williams said, his team just stayed the
course. “Just keep believing,” Williams said was their approach.
“We were getting shots. It's a difference when you're playing a
tough D, which they are, and you're not getting chances. We were
getting good chances so we've just got to keep plugging away, keep
plugging away.”
The approach worked to perfection as
the Redmen were able to chip away at the lead and pull out the win.
Mike Melnychenko scored a huge momentum-shifting goal when he
emerged from a scrum with a loose ball just off the crease, charged
towards the net and found a gap in Miller's five hole as he was being
knocked to the floor.
Derek Hopcroft also scored a
huge goal in the run, and Williams gave him credit for adapting to a
new role this summer. “Bringing Gavin [Prout] in,
he's similar to me where he wants to quarterback things. So now we
have the quarterback, so that takes a little pressure off Hopcroft
having to do that. Now he's just trying to find his feet and work a
little more off ball, but it's starting to come together.”
The Redmen have a wealth of offensive
talent and they're succeeding thanks to a team approach that sees the
ball moving quickly and everyone getting a chance to contribute. That
was evident last night as eight different players scored goals, with
only Williams netting a pair.
Six Nations, who dominated the first
period and easily could have led by more than the 5-2 count that they
did if they hadn't hit at least half a dozen posts, got over half of
their scoring from Senior B callups. Scott Defrancesco opened
the game with a goal on a hard drive to the net early on. Corey
Fowler, who was the CLax scoring champion and whose rights were
acquired by the Chiefs from Oakville before the season, had 1 goal
before the game was moved. Then he caught fire in Pad 3, scoring 3
more goals using his quickness and accurate shooting.
Chiefs GM and Assistant Coach Duane
Jacobs said it was a tough loss “but nothing that's not
correctible. Just a couple of stray loose balls that we should have
picked up but didn't and both of them ended up in our net. A bad
penalty in the offensive zone in the third period and that cost us a
goal. Other than that, it was a pretty good effort with the lineup we
were able to put out there tonight.”
Six Nations returns to action this
Sunday when they play host to the Peterborough Lakers. Brooklin has a
week off before returning to action at home against the KW Kodiaks
next Wednesday, June 5.
