Lakers Stay Alive In Msl Final With Game 4 Win

By Anna Taylor
Photo Credit: Anna Taylor

 

PETERBOROUGH, ON – The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers staved off elimination from the MSL Finals on Saturday night with an 9-8 win over the Six Nations Chiefs in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series. The Chiefs lead 3-1 with Game 5 set for Monday at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. 

 

Powered by 2,927 fans, the Lakers outscored Six Nations 5-3 in the first period, taking full advantage of an extended five-on-three power play late in the period.

 

“Down 3-0, we knew we had to come out with a spark right away and we did,” said Joe Resetarits, who scored twice. “Hitting on the power play was huge. Getting a couple transition goals was huge against a team like that. We weren’t getting those in the first three games. We have to build off this. We know they’re going to come hungry and pissed off on Monday. This next game will be the hardest game we play this summer.”

 

The teams traded goals four times in the second period, the highlight Mitch Ogilvie’s shorthanded transition goal with 3:06 left, on a heads-up pass from Robert Hope as the pair struck out on a two-on-one break. That was the Lakers’ ninth goal, and it proved to be the game winner. The Chiefs scored the only goal of the third period.

 

The Chiefs outshot the Lakers 55-41 in the game and 24-12 in the third period. Drew Hutchison made 47 saves for the Lakers in goal, and Doug Jamieson made 32 saves for the Chiefs.

 

“[Hutchison is] a guy who’s worked hard all year. In Game 2 I don’t think we really did him any favours,” Resetarits said. “Today we cleaned up. We got off the floor… We stayed out of the box, so we did our part there… he stood on his head for the entire game.”

 

“The game doesn’t change; you just have to go out there and perform,” Hutchison said. “The D played well tonight, and we did our best to hold them off as long as we could.”

 

The Lakers held Lyle Thompson pointless and Dhane Smith (three assists) goalless. Ryan Smith led the Chiefs with three goals, and Cody Jamieson contributed four assists.

 

In a surprising move, team leading scorer Holden Cattoni was scratched for the game in order to shake up the offence.

 

“He’s everything to this organization. Four Mann Cps, one of the best shooters of all time,” praised Resetarits. “All of us took it that we need to step up in his place because he’s done so much for this organization, this team, that we have to do our part a little bit more and fill that void.”

 

Game 4’s nine goals was the highest output of the series for the Lakers.

 

Also scratched were Broedie and Dustyn Birkhof, Carter Page and Jordan Stouros. 

 

Game 5 will be at 8 p.m. on Monday and be live on YouTube on the Darryl Smart Media channel. Tickets for Game 6, if necessary, will go on sale Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m.

 

 

Joe Resetarits (2-2)

Thomas Hoggarth (2-1)

Braedon Saris (2-0)

Matt Gilray (1-1)

Taite Cattoni (1-1)

Mitch Ogilvie (1-0)

Mike Robinson (0-6)

Brad McCulley (0-2)

Jake Withers (0-1)

Adam Thistlethwaite (0-1)

Robert Hope (0-1)

Alex Pace (0-1)

Dylan Hutchison (0-1)