BLC Escape Brampton With Thrilling OT Win

By Mark Stehlin

While it may not have gone to plan, the relief on the faces of the coaching staff outside the visitors dressing room showed that a win is a win. The Brooklin Lacrosse Club (BLC) won a thriller last night at the Brampton Memorial Arena. Just 24 hours earlier they held their home opener that ended in a 13-10 loss to Peterborough. A response game was needed tonight and that's what the players delivered. Fans got full ticket value as the teams went to overtime; with 2:20 on the clock Brady Kearnan notched his third of the night for the 12-11 win.

The game started as the coaches had it drawn up.  The offense moved the ball up the floor with speed and determination. That translated to a successful opening frame as BLC outscored their hosts 8-4. Newcomers,  Owen Wills and Nate Woods both scored their first in a BLC uniform. With the scoreboard reading 7-1, Excelsior coaches decided to swap Connor O'Toole in favour of former BLC goaltender, Riley Hutchcraft. That move paid off as Brampton scored the last three goals of the first frame, in front of a composed Hutchcraft. The teams went to the room with BLC owning a four-goal lead.

"It felt good, it was good to get that first game out of the way. It is a much faster game than Junior, the ball moves faster and the guys are faster but I felt good, at the end of the day it's still lacrosse," said Wills. 

"I'm looking forward to seeing what this young group can do, I have a lot of friends in that room and it feels great to be part of it," added Wills. 

The game got tighter in the second period, partially because Hutchcraft was able to stymie the BLC offense and he held them to a pair of goals as Brampton won that period 3-2 leading to a 10-7 score after two periods. Former Whitby Warrior and BLC 2025 protected player, Michael White snared an errant pass from a Brampton opponent and scored a nice goal to open his account in a BLC uniform. 

The visitors were forced to kill off two early penalties to start the last period. Veteran Sean Westley, with his third of the season put BLC ahead 11-7 but the onslaught from the Excelsiors was building. In the final six minutes of play, the home side rattled off four straight to tie the contest at 11-11. The game needed an extra 10 minutes of sudden death  to determine a victor.

The teams went back and forth as BLC goaltender, Lukas Coote and Hutchcraft in the opposing net both made timely saves to give their teams a chance to win. With 2:20 on the clock. Wills was in close and fired a behind the back shot at Hutchcraft, Brady Kearnan grabbed the rebound and deposited the winner into the back of the net. The win improves Brooklin's record to 1-1. A visit to Oakville on Monday followed by a game at home on Wednesday against the Cobourg Kodiaks will round off a busy four-game in seven-night stretch.

Scoring - Woods (2,0) MacLeod (1,0) Keenan (1,0) Volkov (0,1) Westley (2,3) Clark (0,1) White (1,0) Wills (1,0) Simard (,1) Darlison (0,1) Chaykowsky (0,1) C Kearnan (1,3) B Kearnan (3,4) 

Notes -  Owen Wills , a Junior with the St. Leo Lions men's lacrosse program in St. Leo, Florida was named the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division II South Region Defensive Player of the Year. Wills also collected First Team All-Region laurels in addition to his USILA Region Defensive Player of the Year. 

Suiting up for Brampton was former BLC player Nate Ruff who the team selected in the 2025 Major Series Entry draft and then moved to the Excelsiors. Ruff was teammates with Will MacLeod and Bo Columbus from BLC as part of the men's lacrosse program at Robert Morris University this past season.