Marinier's Five Goals Spark Kodiaks Comeback Over Brampton

By Gary Groob 

The Brampton Excelsiors (2-11) traveled east to face the Cobourg Kodiaks (6-5) on Major Series Lacrosse action Sunday evening at the Cobourg Community Centre in Cobourg, Ontario. 

The goaltending match-up had Riley Hutchcraft in net for the Excelsiors facing Laine Hruska in net for the Kodiaks. 

Cobourg showed plenty of resilience Sunday night, overcoming a nightmare start to rally past the Brampton Excelsiors 13-11 at the Cobourg Community Centre. Brampton came out flying, racing to a 5-0 lead in the opening 12 minutes behind the hot sticks of Erich Acton, Thomas McConvey and Mike Triolo. Rather than letting the game slip away, the Kodiaks settled in and responded with six unanswered goals before the end of the first period, completely flipping the momentum and turning a five-goal deficit into a 6-5 lead after 20 minutes.

From there, Cobourg continued to control the pace, putting together another four-goal run in the second period to build a cushion they would never surrender. Alex Marinier led the charge with a five-goal performance, while Jason Knox and Brock Haley played key roles in the comeback as the Kodiaks outshot the Excelsiors 66-47. Brampton made one final push in the third, pulling within a goal on markers from McConvey and Triolo, but Marinier and Haley answered at the right time before the Kodiaks locked things down defensively to secure an impressive comeback victory.

To The Game:

The Excelsiors got on the board quickly when Erich Acton used a jump and dunk to beat Laine Hruska off a Mike Triolo pass at 1:05, followed by a howitzer from Triolo himself off a Thomas McConvey feed 24 seconds later.  

Acton then added his second of the frame with another dive across the crease on the power-play at 6:20, followed by Thomas McConvey with a dribbler that beat Hruska also on the power-play off an Acton feed at 8:25.

The Kodiaks replaced Laine Hruska with Jackson Brown in net.

McConvey welcomed Brown to the gave with a beautiful pump fake and shot from in close at 11:52.

Alex Marinier finally got the Kodiaks on the board with a blast off a behind the back pass from Brock Haley at 12:11, followed by Owen Tasse going coast to coast coming off the bench unassisted at 12:59.

Brock Haley then fired a low to low laser off an Aaron Woods pass at 14:48, followed by Alex Marinier with an absolutely beautiful move finishing with a bounced shot off a Zach Thompson pass at 17:43.  

Marinier then got his third of the period to tie the game with an in close blast at 18:11, followed by Aaron Woods with with a jump across the crease off a Shane Halliwell pass at 19:11.

After one period, Cobourg 6 Brampton 5.
Shots on goal favored the Kodiaks 22-16.

Second Period:

Jason Knox added to the Kodiaks lead with a howitzer to the shortside off a Brock Haley pass at 1:15, followed by an outside blast from Alex Marinier off a Tim Zdimal feed at 5:29.

Knox added another tally for the Kodiaks with a blast to the shortside off an Alex Marinier pass at 8:05, followed by Aaron Woods with a quick stick off a Knox feed on the power-play at 10:08.

Tye Scott finally stopped the Cobourg ten goal run with a huge high to low shot off a Thomas McConvey pass at 10:38, but Briley Maxwell answered immediately off a Jason Knox rebound 28 seconds later.

Tye Scott then scored his second of the period with a bounced shot off a Thomas McConvey pass at 12:49, followed by McConvey himself with a blast off a Mike Triolo feed at 18:35.

After two periods, Cobourg 11 Brampton 8.
Shots on goal favored the Kodiaks 23-13.

Third Period:

Thomas McConvey scored his fourth of the game with a strong move to the net off an Erich Acton pass at 56 seconds, followed by Mike Triolo jumping across the crease off an Acton feed at 1:36 to bring the Excelsiors within one goal.

Alex Marinier stopped the Excelsiors run with his fifth of the night with a dive across the crease off a Brock Haley pass at 10:10, followed by a laser from Brock Haley off a Jason Knox pass at 12:11.

Mike Triolo kept Brampton close with a dunk from behind the net off an Erich Acton feed at 15:52, but the Kodiaks tightened up the defense and were able to hold on for the victory.

Final score, Cobourg 13 Brampton 11.
Shots on goal favored the Kodiaks 21-18, for a game total of 66-47 in favor of Cobourg.

The Three Stars:

1. Alex Marinier 
2. Thomas McConvey 
3. Brock Haley 

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