BLC With a Critical Win Over the Rock

Photo courtesy of Steve Wizniuk

By Mark Stehlin

There are points in a regular season where teams reflect on the importance of a win, last night’s victory was critical for the Brooklin Lacrosse Club (BLC). They were in Oakville on Monday and lost a hard-fought battle to drop below .500. As a result of last night’s 14-8-win, BLC can take the confidence boost to carry them down the home stretch. 

Aden Walsh took his spot in the Brooklin net while Evan Constantopoulos did the same for the visiting Oakville Rock. Brooklin outshot Oakville 62-45 as each goaltender made timely saves for their teams.

It was the visitors who jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead as they tested Walsh early. BLC was thrilled to have Reilly O’Connor back in the line-up as the veteran scored a hattrick in the opening frame. His first of three resulted as he took a long-range pass from Holden Garlent and fired it past Constantopoulos. The Rock took a 5-4 lead to the break.

With a combination of select words by head coach Joel Johnson and guidance by the leadership group, fans saw a different BLC team in that second frame. The scoring started from newcomer Will Johansen as he fired a bullet into to the Oakville net for his first of the season.

“It’s been awesome to be here and it’s a super welcoming group. I play with and against some of these guys in the winter, so I feel really comfortable,” said Johansen.

“We aren’t where we want to be in the standings but there is a lot of lacrosse left and it was a good win tonight. It was a complete game and it shows what we can do out there,” added Johansen.

After Johansen’s goal, BLC went on a three-goal run while keeping the Rock off the scoreboard for the entire period. Dylan Watson, coming off a two-goal performance in Oakville, scored a behind the back-highlight reel goal to give BLC their first lead of the night, one they would not relinquish. The score after 40 minutes was 8-5 in favour of the home team

It was more of the same for BLC in the third as they scored three unanswered to widen the gap. Credit to the Rock who went on a run of their own with three straight in a two-minute span in an attempt to claw back. The home side would not be denied as O’Connor, with his fourth of the game, ensured the 14-8 win.

Next up is a visit from the defending Mann Cup champion Six Nations Chiefs on Wednesday July 15, 2026 and a chance by BLC to avoid the season series sweep.