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Derek Hopcroft, here after a goal earlier in the series, had
reason to celebrate again after scoring the game winner in
double overtime last night. (Photo: Tim Prothero)
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Derek Hopcroft scored 34 seconds
into double overtime to give the Brooklin Redmen a 7-6 win over the
Peterborough Lakers, forcing a seventh game to decide their Major
Series Lacrosse semi final series. Game 7 will be played Sunday night
at 8 pm in Peterborough. On the winning goal, Kiel Matisz drove
towards the net, drawing a pair of Peterborough defenders, then
flipped a pass back towards Hopcroft. With Jimmy Purves
rushing out towards him, Hopcroft quickly released a shot that
skipped off the concrete and found a way through Lakers goalie Tyler
Carlson.
The Redmen felt a huge sense of relief
when that ball went in. Veteran forward Shawn Williams said “It
usually happens quick like that. It was a little bit of 'oh my god'
on both sides. We're still alive. Game 7 in Peterborough...we'll take
it.” If Game 7 is anything like this Game 6, it'll be an exciting
ride for players and fans alike. The Redmen came out of the gate
pushing hard and controlling much of the territorial play. They
scored 3 goals, all from players getting loose and receiving the ball
right on top of the crease. The Lakers got goals on accurate outside
shots from Shawn Evans and John Grant, Jr. to stay
close, trailing just 3-2 after the first period.
Mike Melnychenko scored his
second of the game 42 seconds into the second period to extend the
Redmen's lead then Grant scored again to keep things tight. A Gavin
Prout marker late in the frame made it 5-3 for Brooklin heading
into the third period. Both Carlson for Peterborough and Zach Higgins
for Brooklin continued their outstanding play into the third and
neither team could connect again until Josh Gillam ripped home
a low to low shot from the high slot at 10:03 to pull the Lakers
within one.
Just under three minutes later, Purves
picked up a loose ball in the Peterborough zone, raced up the floor,
made a perfect diagonal cut to the middle and ripped home a laser to
the top corner, tying the game 5-5. A few minutes after that, Jordan
Houtby scooped the ball up in Brooklin's end and took off
straight up the floor. He saw a defender coming from the bench (a
little early, as the ref's hand went up for too many men on the
floor) and quickly released a shot that bounced in to give the Redmen
the lead once again. That lead was short-lived, however, as Evans
connected 29 seconds later to make it 6-6.
The Lakers got the final possession of
regulation with just seven seconds to play and the ball at their own
crease. Brad Self sped up the floor with the ball and fired a
pass to Jordan MacIntosh at the edge of the crease. With a
pair of defenders collapsing on MacIntosh, the ball flew past,
ricocheted off the back boards and went directly to Evans, who fired
it home. Unfortunately for the Lakers, the buzzer sounded to end the
game just as the ball left Evans stick.
The first, 10-minute, overtime went
back and forth with both teams having chances but unable to find the
back of the net. Brooklin took possession off the opening faceoff of
the second overtime and eventually the ball found its way to Matisz,
whose third assist of the night was the most important. Hopcroft
barely got the shot off before Purves arrived, having to shorten his
stroke, but the ball found a somehow found a hole and the game was
over.
Lakers coach Jamie Batley said
his team played pretty well defensively and the last shot just
happened to find a way into the net. “That one at the end had eyes.
We haven't normally been giving him that shot,” Batley said, and
noted that if their offence had been working the way it should the
game wouldn't have gone to overtime in the first place. “We should
be scoring more than six, we know that. We had a lot of great looks.
We've got to get more than six. We have to give that goalie credit,
too. He's no slouch.”
Game 7 of the exciting series will go
Sunday, August 18 at 8 pm at the Memorial Centre in Peterborough. It
can be seen on live pay per view webcast. To purchase the game, click on the Webcast Sports link in the right hand column of this web site.
