 |
John Grant, Jr. had 5 goals and 4 assists to lead the Lakers
over the Redmen in Game 5, giving Peterborough a 3-2
lead in the series. (File photo: Tim Prothero)
|
John Grant, Jr. finally snapped
out of his series-long drought and helped the Peterborough Lakers
take control of the Major Series Lacrosse semi finals with a 15-9 win
over the Brooklin Redmen Monday night, giving them a 3-2 lead in the
series. Grant scored 5 goals and 4 assists in a dominating
performance that displayed his shooting and passing prowess and how
much of a difference they can make in a game. The Lakers transition
game also played a huge role, with Brad Self adding 2 goals
and 5 assists and Mark Steenhuis contributing 3 goals and an
assist.
Grant's 9 points almost equalled the
total of 10 he had produced in the three previous games he had played
in the series, but he'd had only 1 goal over those three. He was
visibly frustrated throughout the series as his shooting woes
mounted. “It's been frustrating because I've been awful. I've been
the worst player on the floor,” Grant said. “I've been letting
the team down. Even tonight in the first period, I think I was the
direct result of three of their goals.”
The Lakers' star forward said he's been
trying everything he could think of to turn things around, but
finally it was a simple bit of advice from teammate Scott Evans
that seemed to do the trick. “I'm just trying to get out of my
head, I'm switching sticks, I'm doing a bunch of stuff. I've just got
to play. Scott Evans said just close your eyes and shoot it, so I did
and a couple went in. I think the team all in all played well tonight
so I was just contributing when I could.”
Grant said he also felt like he was
letting all the lacrosse he's been playing—between the Lakers and
his games in the Major League Lacrosse pro field league—get him to
stop moving the way he needs to to be successful. “I think a lot of
it had to do with getting my feet moving, too,” Grant said. “I
was flat-footed a lot in the first period. It's been a lot of
lacrosse for me; I played on the weekend. Trying to get the warmup
in; I think the first period's been my warmup all series. I'm just
trying to put the ball where I want it. When it goes where I want it,
it usually goes in. It hasn't been going anywhere but into their
sticks.” It was definitely not going in their sticks last night.
Peterborough took a 3-1 lead in the
first period, but the Redmen fought back to score the last 3 goals of
the frame and take a 4-3 lead into the intermission. The Lakers came
out flying in the second to take the lead and take control of the
game. Steenhuis scored on a breakout with Self 48 seconds into the
period, then Grant scored at 1:08 and 1:48.
A key play wound up coming at the end
of the second period. Brooklin got possession of the ball with about
32 seconds to play. They took a time out, pulled their goalie for the
extra attacker and worked the clock down close to the end of their 30
seconds before taking a shot. Tyler Carlson saved the shot and
raised his stick to try to fire it the length of the floor towards
the empty net. With a scrum of players around the crease, Carlson's
shot was blocked before it ever got properly on its way and was
knocked back into the Lakers' goal just as the buzzer sounded to end
the period.
It looked like the ball entered the
cage too late to count as a goal, and referees Mark Gardonio
and Matt Robinson waved it off accordingly. They also gave Cam
Holding a penalty for goaltender interference for checking
Carlson in his crease. That, along with some other calls that he saw
as inconsistent, raised the ire of Brooklin Head Coach Wayne
Colley. “We can't beat Peterborough and the referees,” Colley
said. “How do you call checking in the crease on that play when
there's a bunch of guys from both teams standing there pushing and
shoving?”
Colley said he's finding the
enforcement of rules throughout the series inconsistent and says he
and his players don't know what to expect on a given night. “I
don't know what the rules are, I can't figure them out. I've been in
the game a long time and every game that's played it's different
rules. So I can't figure it out. What was a slash tonight? What was
too many men? They had seven guys on more than once. What's
possession of the ball? I can't figure it out.”
Brooklin needs to regroup and prepare
to earn a win on their home floor Wednesday night when they play host
to the Lakers in Game 6 of the series. The winner of this semi final
will face the Six Nations Chiefs in the MSL championship series. Six
Nations swept the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks in the other semi.
