BROOKLIN DROPS PLAYOFF OPENER AGAINST HOST PETERBOROUGH LAKERS

By Sam Laskaris


A slow start proved costly for the Brooklin Lacrosse Club which kicked off its playoff schedule on
Monday.
The Brooklin squad trailed 6-1 versus the host Peterborough Lakers in Game 1 of their Major
Series Lacrosse (MSL) best-of-seven semi-final series. Playing catchup the rest of the evening, the Brooklin club ended up losing 12-8 in the contest, which was staged at Peterborough’s Memorial Centre.

Members of the Brooklin team won’t have long to fret about Monday’s setback. That’s because
the two rivals are right back at it on Tuesday night for Game 2 of the series. This tilt, which has an opening faceoff set for 8 p.m., will be held at Brooklin’s home facility, Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby.

“We got caught flat-footed, both offensively and defensively,” Brooklin head coach Jason
Crosbie said of his team’s first-period efforts. Crosbie, however, was relatively pleased with how the remainder of Monday’s opener transpired. 

Brooklin outshot the Lakers 50-43 in the match. Crosbie’s charges outscored the host Lakers 4-3
in the middle period. The two sides then scored three goals apiece in the final 20 minutes.
“We showed up and we didn’t back down,” Crosbie added. “We told them we’re not going
away.”

Crosbie also said he’s pleased the series will resume in less than 24 hours since he believes his
team had the momentum in the latter stages of Monday’s match. Brooklin and Peterborough had split their four regular season matchups as both won a pair of contests.

Crosbie though believes his youthful side perhaps had some early playoff jitters on Monday.
The Lakers are technically the three-time defending national champions.
Peterborough won the Mann Cup in 2017, ’18 and ’19. The Canadian title was not contested in
2020 or last year because of the pandemic.

“I think we didn’t come out with the right understanding of what a chase for the Mann Cup is in
summer lacrosse,” Crosbie said, adding his team didn’t have the proper intensity and do little
things right to ensure playoff success. A pair of rookies led the Brooklin offence on Monday.
Brady Kearnan had a hat trick and also earned an assist. And Dyson Williams also had a four-
point night, including two goals. Curtis Knight, Mike Byrne and Luke Pilcher had the other Brooklin goals.

As for the Lakers, three of their players had five-point performances. Cory Vitarelli scored three
times and had a pair of helpers. Kiel Matisz and Taite Cattoni earned all of their points via
assists. Holden Cattoni, Thomas Hoggarth and Mark Matthews chipped in with two goals each. Also
scoring for the Lakers were Austin Hasen, Joe Resetarits and Alex Pace.