The Peterborough Lakers regained home
floor advantage by taking Game 3 in their MSL semifinal series 10-6
over the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks in Waterloo Wednesday night. The
Lakers scored a pair of shorthanded goals to help take a 6-2 lead
midway through the second period. KW fought back with three straight
to end the frame, pulling them within a single goal and they tied it
up just over a minute into the third when Jordan Critch
connected. But the Lakers answered immediately, getting a goal from
Adam Jones just 49 seconds later to take a lead they wouldn't
relinquish.
Shawn Evans, Mark Steenhuis
and Nick Weiss each scored twice for the Lakers, who take a
2-1 lead in the series. Corey Fowler and Ryan Benesch
each had a pair for KW. Game 4 is back at the Waterloo Recreational
Complex Friday at 8 pm.
Lakers Head Coach Joe Sullivan
was impressed with how goalie Matt Vinc bounced back from a rough
outing in Game 2 the night before. “Matt's a student of the game.
He watches so much video and we provided him what he asked for,”
Sullivan said. “He not only cleaned himself up on what he wanted to
work on, he talks a lot to the defence about what they need to do to
help him be able to see the ball better.”
The Lakers scored some goals on
transition chances and kept pressure on the Kodiaks with their
running game all night long. “The one thing we don't do a heck of a
lot of, and we've got the speed to do it, is transition the ball,”
Sullivan said. “Tonight we pushed the ball up the floor and we
caught them trying to get back into numbers. There's nothing that
frustrates a team more than when you're always just trying to race
back to defend rather than trying to be able to settle in and play
your defence, so we're trying to take advantage of that.”
Kodiaks GM Steve Dietrich said
his team played hard and he thought they deserved a better fate, but
said the Lakers just did a better job of finishing. “We'll be ready
to play Friday night and we'll just keep battling,” he said. The
key will be a more active offence. “Offensively we've got to keep
moving the ball. When we stand around and are stagnant it fits into
their defence. We've just got to keep moving and generate some
chances.”
