Brooklin Defeated By League-Leading Six Nations Chiefs

By Sam Laskaris

Though its record might indicate otherwise, the Brooklin Lacrosse Club has been in the majority of its games this season.
But on Tuesday night the youthful Brooklin squad had a tough road outing as it was defeated 10-2 by the Six Nations Chiefs in a Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) match. It was Brooklin’s most lopsided loss this year.

The contest was held at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Hagersville, located just outside the Six Nations community of Ohsweken. Tuesday’s setback dropped Brooklin’s record to 2-11. With the victory the Chiefs boosted their mark to 10-4 and took over sole possession of first place in the standings of the six-team MSL. Six Nations, however, has played two games more than the 9-3 Peterborough Lakers, the two-time defending Mann Cup champions.

“This game wasn’t as close as some of the others but it’s still a lot of fun for us,” said Brooklin rookie defender Nick Chaykowsky. “We’re getting a lot of feedback after every shift and every game and that’s keeping it fun for us.”

Though the Brooklin squad would obviously prefer to have several more wins this season, Chaykowsky said he’s impressed with how well the young squad has been faring against veteran-laden opponents.
“I find it crazy when you look around and see how most of the guys are in their first year or second year, especially with the team we had tonight,” Chaykowsky said. “That bodes well for the future.”

The Chiefs outshot Brooklin 55-38 in the game.

Travis Getz and Connor Kearnan were the only two Brooklin players who managed to score on the night.
Brooklin’s head coach Brad MacArthur was obviously not pleased his charges were unable to get more balls past Chiefs’ netminder Doug Jamieson. “We had spurts of confidence and we carried the play at times,” MacArthur said, adding errant shots or goalposts being hit prevented his squad from scoring more often.

MacArthur was happy though to see his players battling until the final buzzer. “It wasn’t for a lack of effort,” he said. “The compete level was there.” Because of its youthfulness MacArthur knew his squad would have some growing pains during the 2019 campaign. “Everybody has more experience than us,” he said. “(The Chiefs) have got a lot of bonafide National Lacrosse League stars. And we’ve got a lot of NLL stars waiting to happen.”

Brooklin is right back in action on Wednesday. The visiting Brampton Excelsiors will provide the opposition for the match, which will be held at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre.

The opening faceoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.