12 - 12 TIE BETWEEN COBOURG NISSAN KODIAKS AND BRAMPTON EXCELSIORS

The Cobourg Nissan Kodiaks tied the Brampton Excelsiors in a very exciting and entertaining game to the start of the Major Series Lacrosse 2018 season.

Brampton got off to a good start taking a 3-0 lead half way through the first period. with goals by Phil Cuputo, Jayson Crawford and Tyler Ferreira.  However, the Kodiaks answered with three of their own, two from Kyle Killen and one from Colton Armstrong.  The teams continued to exchange goals with the first period ending and Brampton holding a lead of 5 - 4.

Second period action saw the Kodiaks catch up with another goal from Cloutier and end up with the lead going into the second intermission. Liam Patton, Joey Cupido and Cloutier scored in the second for Cobourg. Derek Downs and Wayne VanEvery scored for Brampton.

The Kodiaks led 8 - 7 entering the third period, but scoring went back and forth. Both Cloutier and Cupido scored for the Kodiaks while Crawford, Daryl Veltman and Jordan Dance scored for Brampton. With a 10 - 10 tie at the end of the third period, the game required a 10 minute overtime.

Conner Goodwin scored twice for the Kodiaks, including a very exciting one handed goal while Downs and Van Every scored for Brampton. Cobourg tied the game with 9.5 seconds left in the overtime period which elated the home town Kodiak fans.  In the final seconds, Joey Cupido on a breakaway, nearly netted the winner with 4.5 seconds left on the clock. Brampton pulled their goalie in the final seconds but was unable to capitalize on their 6 on 5. Final score was 12 -12.

Cobourg's Chris Cloutier led all goal scorers with four.  Joey Cupido and Kyle Killen each netted a pair for the Kodiaks.  Wayne VanEvery and Daryl Veltman both had hat tricks for Brampton.

Goaltenders Nolan Clayton for the Excelsiors and Davide Diruscio for the Kodiaks were solid in the nets making several outstanding saves.

Overall, the game did see some poorly executed playmaking, but that was more than outdone with continual precision passing, plenty of high paced tempo and great entertainment for the enthusiastic crowd.  It would have been a sweet win for either team, but an equally tough loss. Perhaps a tie game was appropriate.

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