The Oakville Rock faced quite a challenge to start the 2014 Major Series Lacrosse season, squaring off in their first two games against the top two teams from last year's regular season in the Peterborough Lakers and Six Nations Chiefs. They held their own after a slow start in an opening loss to Peterborough but last night the new-look Rock downed the defending Mann Cup champion Chiefs 13-11 to earn their first win of the summer.
Things got going slowly last night in Oakville, with neither team able to score for the first 11 minutes of the game. Six Nations took a 2-1 lead but then Brendan Thenhaus and Jordan MacIntosh scored 29 seconds apart late in the period to give Oakville a lead it would never relinquish. Oakville took control of the game with a 5-1 second period in which they kept the potent Six Nations offence in check while taking advantage of some transition opportunities.
Craig Point and Dean Hill got the first two goals of the third period for Six Nations but a pair of rookies, Patrick Corbett and Mike Mawdsley, responded for Oakville to regain the Rock's five-goal lead at 10-5. The Chiefs chipped away at the lead with five of the next six goals to pull within one at 11-10 on Stephen Keogh's third of four on the night with just under four minutes to play.
That was all the scoring until the final minute, when Oakville got one each from MacIntosh and Damon Edwards to put it away. Keogh potted the final goal of the night with just one second to play.
MacIntosh wound up with 3 goals and 4 assists to lead the Rock while Corbett added 3 goals and 3 assists and Thenhaus a goal and 5 helpers. Point and Hill each had 3 goals and 2 assists for Six Nations in addition to Keogh's 4 goals.
