Lakers pound Kodiaks in inaugural Clash Cup in Cobourg

Evan Kirk allowed only four goals to help the Lakers dominate the Kodiaks
15-4 in the Clash Cup in Cobourg. (Photo: Ken St. Thomas)

What was officially a home game for the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks turned into a big win for the Peterborough Lakers. Playing the first Clash Cup as the culmination of a minor lacrosse tournament in Cobourg hosted by the burgeoning Northumberland Nemesis association, the Lakers dumped the Kodiaks 15-4 behind 6 goals from Curtis Dickson.

The crowd of 1,629 certainly seemed to be primarily in the Lakers' corner. That's not too surprising given that Cobourg is about 45 minutes from Peterborough and Lakers' stars Shawn Evans and Brad Self have been heavily involved with the Nemesis through their Nationwide Lacrosse company.

Evans got the biggest cheer from the crowd when the starting lineups were announced and he played a major role for the Lakers offence, as usual. Scoring details are currently unavailable but Evans scored a goal and is believed to have had 4 assists. Cory Vitarelli also scored 4 times for the Lakers.

Luke Laszkiewicz and Kedoh Hill were the key figures for KW's offence and produced many of their points, with Laszkeiwicz scoring twice and Hill assisting on three of their goals.


Evan Kirk was sterling in his second game and second win for the Lakers after having a good but not great performance in their home opener Thursday, when they beat Brooklin 17-10. He said with a new team (he was acquired shortly before the season began in a trade with Six Nations) it always takes a while to adjust, joking that he only knew about half the names of the players on the team.

“I felt good tonight. It was a little tough to focus in Peterborough, there's lots of people there, lots of stuff going on," Kirk said after the game Saturday. "It was emotional before [with a pre-game tribute to former Laker great Mark Evans who died over the winter], lots of things to get your mind off of just focusing on playing. Tonight, it's a good venue here and lots of people here, a good crowd. It was fun to go out and play.”

Kodiaks co-coach Jamie Dubrick said he was pleased with the effort his players gave despite being outgunned by the Lakers. "That's a great team. They've got some really good players. There's a bunch of NLL stars out there and we've got a bunch of young guys so this is a learning experience," Dubrick said. "For a backup goalie who's a first year (Rance Vigneux) it was nice to see him get in there and make some good saves [after replacing starter Davide DiRuscio]. One thing we can take away from the game is that the boys never stopped. They played for each other the whole way through."

KW falls to 2-2 while the Lakers improve to 2-0. The Kokiaks head to Oakville to play the Rock Monday night. The Lakers are in Brooklin Wednesday then home to Oakville on Thursday.