Lakers and Chiefs tie 6-6

Ryan Benesch led Six Nations with 2 goals and 1 assist.
(Photo: Darryl Smart)

It's not unusual for Peterborough and Six Nations to play close games in Major Series Lacrosse. They can't get any closer than Tuesday night's contest; in which neither team could score in overtime, leaving the final score 6-6. Even the shots were almost identical, officially finishing 51-50 for Six Nations.

The result keeps the Lakers three points ahead of the Chiefs for first place (21 points for Peterborough, 18 for Six Nations). The standings could either spread out for the first time this season or go back to being extremely tight in the next two days as both the Chiefs (Wednesday in Brooklin) and the Lakers (Thursday in Peterborough) play the fourth-place Brooklin Redmen, who currently have 15 points.

Peterborough held period leads of 2-1 and 5-4. Starting goalie Evan Kirk had to leave after 40 minutes; he hadn't been feeling well before the game and was done in by the heat and humidity. That didn't make much difference; Matt Vinc continued the pace by allowing only two goals in the third.

The Chiefs made their third-period pair count, though, by holding Peterborough to a single Shawn Evans marker in the frame to even things up and force the extra period. In overtime, Peterborough managed seven shots and Six Nations four, but neither offence could find a goal.

Evans added 2 assists to his goal, joining Holden Cattoni (2g, 1a) as Peterborough's leading scorer. Six Nations had five players with 3 points each, led by Ryan Benesch's 2 goals and an assist.

Dillon Ward made 44 saves while Kirk and Vinc combined for 45.  

Redmen crush Kodiaks 16-7

Things started out well for the Cobourg Kodiaks Wednesday night when Joey Cupido broke away with an intercepted pass and fended off a stick slapping him upside the head to score just 1:39 after the opening faceoff.

It was downhill from there for Cobourg, though, as the Brooklin Redmen controlled their MSL matchup at Iroquois Park to take a 16-7 win.

Dan Lintner scored 6 goals, all in the first half of the game, to lead the Redmen. Ryan Keenan had 3 goals and 3 assists and Mark Matthews had 8 assists, including 4 on Lintner's goals, for Brooklin. John St. John was Cobourg's leading scorer with 3 assists while Dylan Goddard had 2 goals.

A 5-goal run in the second period really put the Redmen in charge, extending their lead from 5-3 to 10-3. The Kodiaks did battle back, though, closing the gap to 11-7 by the end of the period.

MSL players Evans, Matthews and Smith are finalists for NLL MVP

The National Lacrosse League post-season accolades continue to accrue for Major Series Lacrosse players. The 2016 NLL MVP will be an MSL player after the league announced the finalists for the award: Shawn Evans, Mark Matthews and Dhane Smith.

This will mark the fifth year in a row that the league's top player has come from MSL. Evans is the reigning MVP, has won two of the last three awards, and is once again a finalist. His inclusion among the final three is particularly noteworthy because he switched teams in the offseason, moving from the Calgary Roughnecks to the New England Black Wolves.

Evans became the first player in league history to crack the 100-point plateau in four straight seasons. More importantly, he led the turnaround of a team that was last in the league in 2015 as the Black Wolves advanced to the East Division finals this year.

Evans scored 50 goals for the first time in his career. He has continued his high-scoring ways, leading the Peterborough Lakers to first place in MSL at this point and having more assists this summer than anyone else has points.

Chiefs down Redmen 10-7 to maintain second place

The Six Nations Chiefs rode a 6-goal run that spanned the middle of the first period to early in the second to pull out a 10-7 win over the Brooklin Redmen in Six Nations Tuesday night.

The game, as all Major Series Lacrosse games do right now, had a big impact on the standings. A win would have leapfrogged Brooklin past Six Nations and Oakville into second place in MSL. Instead, with their win the Chiefs solidify their hold on second with 16 points (2 behind first-place Peterborough) and Brooklin remains in fourth with 13 points.

Shayne Jackson, Derek Hopcroft and Dan Lintner had given Brooklin a 3-1 lead through the first half of the opening period. Six Nations took control, though, with 5 goals in a six-minute stretch of the first, then extended their lead when Craig Point opened the second with a goal three minutes in.

Lakers overcome slow start to beat shorthanded Excelsiors 9-8

Shawn Evans was quiet early, but scored a pair of beautiful third-period
goals to lead the Lakers to a 9-8 win over Brampton. (Photo: Tim Prothero)

The Brampton Excelsiors had traded away six of their best players two days before they met the Peterborough Lakers at home Sunday. Brampton had only 13 runners for the game and no backup goalie. And yet, they came out and played “probably our best game of the year,” as head coach Paul Stewart put it.

The effort, especially on defence and from goaltender Tyler Carlson, allowed them to hold an 8-4 lead after 40 minutes. It took five almost perfect third-period goals from the Lakers to come back and earn a 9-8 win that keeps Peterborough atop the Major Series Lacrosse standings.

All in all, it turned out to be a much more exciting game than anyone had the right to expect, with outstanding performances in stretches from both teams.

It all started with Carlson for the Excelsiors. The defence took a few minutes to find its form against a Lakers team that had five junior callups in the lineup because players were missing with other commitments. During that time, Carlson made a handful of excellent saves to keep the game scoreless.

Then Phil Caputo scored his first of 3 goals in the game to go with a pair of assists. A few minutes later, Carlson started a breakout with a pass to Matt Spanger, who sent Zac Reid in alone to make it 2-0.

Excelsiors adding young talent, giving vets a chance to win, says Stewart

Kyle Rubisch is among the key players Brampton traded away Friday.
(Photo: Dave Fryer)

The trade of several veteran players to Major Series Lacrosse championship contenders came at their requests and was largely the product of respect for what the players have done for the Brampton team, says Excelsiors head coach Paul Stewart.

Stewart said that Brooklin requested permission to speak with Chris Corbeil and Kyle Rubisch and that the Excelsiors never deny such requests. Because of the relationship of the pair with their coach in Saskatchewan, Derek Keenan, Corbeil and Rubisch told the Excelsiors they would like to join him in Brooklin as the Redmen make a push for the Mann Cup.

"Corbs and Rubes, along with [Dan and Paul] Dawson, are the most loyal guys to this organization. After everything they have done for this team, we couldn't deny them a chance to play meaningful lacrosse," said Stewart.  The Dawsons were sent to Six Nations in a pair of trades yesterday.

While Brampton isn't mathematically eliminated from playoff contention at 1-9, even if they won their remaining eight games it may not be enough to get to the postseason.

Brampton Excelsiors send Corbeil and Rubisch to Brooklin, Dawson brothers to Brooklin

Chris Corbeil leads an exodus from Brampton that fuels the MSL playoff race among Six Nations, Brooklin and Peterborough. (Photo: Dave Fryer)

With the Major Series Lacrosse roster deadline approaching (the actual deadline is 11:59 July 2), the Brampton Excelsiors traded away four of their best players.

The Six Nations Chiefs bolstered their roster at both ends of the floor by acquiring forward Dan Dawson and defender Paul Dawson from Brampton.

Brooklin made their defence a whole lot more difficult to play against by acquiring both Chris Corbeil and Kyle Rubisch from the Excelsiors. 

The other of the "big three" teams (which you could argue has become the "big four" with Oakville's emergence as a legitimate contender) got in on the act, as well. The Peterborough Lakers picked up defender and draw man Dylan Evans from Brampton in return for the rights to Ryan Lee and other considerations.

In return for Dan Dawson, Brampton gets forward Quinn Powless and defenders Reid Acton and Andrew Watt. For Paul Dawson, the Excelsiors receive Jay Thorimbert and other considerations.

From Brooklin, the Excelsiors add forwards TJ Sanders and Kyle Buchanan and defender Jordan Houtby.

Six Nations and Brampton also completed a swap of young defenders, with Ethan O'Connor going to the Chiefs in exchange for Tim Edwards, second and third round draft picks in 2019 and other considerations.