 |
| Cory Vitarelli reacts after scoring for the Lakers in their 7-6 win over the Chiefs in Game 2 of the MSL finals. (Photo: Tim Prothero) |
The Peterborough Lakers took a 2-0 lead
in the best of seven Major Series Lacrosse championship series with a
7-6 win over the Chiefs in Six Nations Tuesday night.
The game was webcast by JVI Sports Network and can be viewed in their YouTube archives. Anyone interested in sponsoring a game webcast can contact Stephen Stamp via email at stamplax@hotmail.com.
Peterborough got an early lead on an
unusual power play goal. With Six Nations controlling the ball in the
offensive zone, they pulled goalie Dillon Ward to place a
fifth runner in the neutral zone. It's a common tactic that teams
employ; when the penalty expires, the player from the penalty box
steps to the bench so the goalie can return to his crease. Meanwhile,
the player in the neutral zone steps in to join the offence with a
full 30 second clock.
This time, however, the move backfired
when Ryan Benesch was pressured into a turnover near the
restraining line and no other Chiefs player had run to the bench to
let Ward back on the floor. Brad Self scooped up the loose ball and
launched a shot from his own side of centre that bounced into the
empty net for the game's first goal.
Six Nations stormed back, though,
controlling much of the play and blanking Peterborough the rest of
the way while scoring three times, including a pair of power play
markers by Dhane Smith. That made the score 3-1 for the Chiefs
for the second straight game in the series.
Peterborough bounced back in the
second. Holden Cattoni took a breakout pass from Ian Llord and
buried a bench transition goal then Mark Steenhuis ripped home
back to back power play goals. Dan Dawson evened things up
with three minutes to play in the period and 4-4 was the score after
40 minutes.
Dawson got the next goal as well, on a
sidearm floater that eluded Matt Vinc 2:22 into the third. It didn't
take the Lakers long to respond. Cory Vitarelli created some
space for himself with a perfect pick and push just above the crease,
received a well-time pass from Chad Culp and beat Ward from
close range.
“Cory's a veteran player. He knows
how much he can push and not push and he plays that to the max,”
said Lakers assistant coach Bobby Keast. “This is the
finals. Referees do let a bit more go now than they would maybe
earlier in the season. Cory knows that.”
The goalies and defences ruled the
floor for the next 11-plus minutes. Suspense was building in the
crowd of about a thousand fans as neither team was able to break the
5-5 deadlock.
“I think we wouldn't expect anything
different. We both have systems that executing. It's just one of
those one breakdown at either end, it may go in the net,” Keast
said.
From his team's perspective, they were
glad to have been able to go to school on what happened in Game 1.
“We were really fortunate to be able to watch some game tape from
the other night and make some minor adjustments, and that's all we
needed to do, minor adjustments to not need to go to overtime and
pull out a victory,” Keast said.
When someone was finally able to score,
it wasn't much of a breakdown they took advantage of but a flashy
shot that was used to achieve the feat.
Vitarelli again was on top of the
crease, but thi time with David Brock right on him. None the
less, Steenhuis was able to thread a pass through and Vitarelli
whipped home a behind the back shot that would have made his
offensive coach, recently minted NLL Hall of Famer Tracey Kelusky,
proud with hits quick release and accuracy.
The Lakers had pulled ahead and there
were about four a half minutes to play. A one-goal lead is never safe
against Six Nations, though, and Peterborough proved they realized
that by continuing to push for more. They were eventually rewarded
when Cattoni scored off a lovely pick and roll play with Vitarelli at
16:44.
Six Nations started pulling Ward for
the extra attacker and it paid off when Brier Jonathan found
himself with plenty of room on the left side. The defender who has
been playing up in the absence of injured Chiefs' lefty forwards was
hesitant in Game 1. He looked more comfortable taking shots when they
were there in Game 2 and he made this one count, sneaking a hard shot
through Vinc's five-hole as the goalie dropped.
The Chiefs only had 39 seconds
remaining to try to complete their comeback and weren't able to find
the equalizer. That left them one goal short for the second straight
game and facing a 2-0 deficit in the series.
As Chiefs head coach Rich Kilgour
pointed out, though, Peterborough led last year's final 2-0 as well
and Six Nations came back to win the next three games, so his team is
far from hitting the panic button at this point.
They will head to Peterborough for Game
3 Thursday at 8 pm confident that they have what it takes to get back
into the series. It will be challenging without three of their four
regular lefty forwards. Cody Jamieson and Jordan Durston
both have knee injuries that look like they'll keep them out for the
rest of the summer and Johnny Powless had recurrences of his
post-concussion symptoms in Game 1.
Peterborough, on the other hand, is
almost entirely healthy, which itself is an unusual situation at this
point in the season. They are, of course, missing defenders Andrew
Suitor, Brock Sorensen and Mark Farthing, but
they've been without that trio all season and have adjusted to
playing without them.
Peterborough will get John Grant Jr.
back for Game 3. He was in Denver for his job at Valor Christian High
and missed Game 2.
 |
| Ryan Benesch sneaks a ball past Matt Vinc on the short side during first period action Tuesday. (Photo: Tim Prothero) |
For Six Nations, a big question
relating to the lineup is where Dhane Smith will play. He has
spent much of his time in the series, as well as in the semifinal
victory over Brooklin, playing transition. He is very dangerous in
that role. He often came out the back door then ran the ball up and
stayed for offence in Game 2. He was also on the first power play
unit, where he scored both his goals Tuesday.
Cattoni was just happy to get a chance
to play and to make a contribution. Has he ever scored a bigger goal
in his career? “No, I don't think so, not to date,” Cattoni said.
“It was a good quality win for our team. Glad I could do something
for us.”
While Cattoni was in junior lacrosse
last summer, he spent time with the senior Lakers down the stretch
and played a couple of games in the Mann Cup. He knows that it would
be a mistake to get too comfortable just because they hold a 2-0
series lead.
“It definitely gives us a cushion but
the next game's even bigger,” Cattoni said. “It either puts them
one game closer or gives us a nice cushion so we can hopefully close
out the series. Three games up would be better than two.”
