Once again, the Six Nations Chiefs
controlled the first and third periods to take a solid win over the
Brooklin Redmen in the Major Series Lacrosse championship series.
This time it was an 11-5 win in Brooklin that gives them a 2-0 lead
in the series. The Chiefs reined in the Redmen's potent transition
game in the first period and goalie Evan Kirk was impeccable
in the Chiefs net as Six Nations took a 4-0 lead into the dressing
room after 20 minutes.
Brooklin rebounded, got their running
game going and outscored the Chiefs 4-1 in the second period to pull
within a goal. They had a chance to do even more damage when Sid
Smith was given a 5-minute slashing major with 4:10 to go in the
period, but the Six Nations penalty killers stepped up and killed the
penalty. That seemed to swing the momentum back to the Chiefs, as
they scored 3 goals in the first two and a half minutes of the third
period to extend their lead to 8-4. From there on, the Chiefs
controlled play and closed out the win that gives them a stranglehold
on the series heading back to Six Nations for Game 3 on Friday at 8
pm. All games in the series are available to view on pay per view webcast. Click on the Webcast Sports link in the right hand column of this site to purchase the games.
Chiefs veteran forward Colin Doyle
said his team played strong first and third periods to secure the
win. “Not too pleased with the second. I thought we got away from
our game but Kirky and our D did a great job killing that [5-minute
penalty] and I thought that gave us some momentum going into the
third. Eventually the ball fell for us but they fell for us because
we worked hard for our chances,” Doyle said.
The key for Six Nations offence, Doyle
added, is to take a team approach with lots of ball movement. “That's
got to be our M.O. It's been our M.O. all year: everybody touches,
everybody's dangerous. When we get away from that and we get into
tight spots sometimes, everybody takes it on their own shoulders.
That's natural and it happens on the best of teams but we refocused
and we got back to doing what we do well and it worked for us.”
On the other side, Gavin Prout
said the Chiefs were able mostly to take away what his team needs to
do to be win games. “They're a very smart team. They see what we're
successful at which is pushing the pace and transitioning the ball,”
Prout said. “The first and the third period they got back well. The
second period, we escaped a few times and made them pay. We actually
have to find a way to do that a little more often and get some easy
transition goals.”
Prout said the key for the Redmen is to
find a way get their game going in all periods the way it has worked
in the second period of both games so far. “It's hopefully going to
be a long series for us,” Prout said. “The first period we were
lazy. The second period picked up, we played our game and we actually
stuck to the game plan. The third period, we let them get a few loose
shots away, outside shots that we should have gotten on their hands
and they went in. If we stick to the game plan like we're supposed
to, like we did in Peterborough, like we did in the second period
here and like we did in the second period down in the Nations, we
should be good, but we have to actually keep to that mindset.”
