Brooklin snaps two-game losing skid with OT win over visiting Kodiaks
By Sam Laskaris
Kyle Waters picked an opportune time to complete his hat trick on Wednesday.
Waters scored at the 50-second mark of overtime to give the Brooklin Lacrosse Club a 12-11 win over the visiting Cobourg Kodiaks. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Brooklin. And it allowed the squad to improve its record to 7-6-0, good for third place in the standings of the five-team Major Series Lacrosse. The Kodiaks dropped to 3-10-0 on the season.
Besides scoring three goals, Waters also had three assists in the match, which was held at the Iroquois Park Sports Complex in Whitby. Waters, however, was not Brooklin’s top point getter on the night. Veteran Connor Kearnan racked up nine points via his performance, which included five goals and four assists.
“Connor is our leader out there,” said Brooklin assistant coach Gavin Prout. “When you have a leader scoring goals, it picks up the other guys. It’s nice to have that.”
Tanner Cook and Sean Westley also had productive evenings. Cook scored twice and added five assists. Westley scored once and was credited with five helpers.Brady Kearnan had the other Brooklin goal.
“It was closer than I wanted it to be,” Prout said. “But I guess we keep the fans coming back that way.”
Brooklin needed to come back late in the match just to send it into overtime. The hosts found themselves trailing 11-9 with under three minutes to play.But Waters then scored his second of the night. And Brady Kearnan got the tying goal with just under two minutes remaining in the third period.Prout felt the game would not have been as close as it was had Brooklin capitalized on several of its chances.
“We probably hit a half dozen posts in the game,” he said. “And Cobourg’s goalie Jackson Brown robbed us of five or six empty nets.”
The performance from the entire Brooklin squad was much better than the one it had on Tuesday, when it was thumped 16-6 by the host Six Nations Chiefs.
“Everybody wasted about seven hours of their day and decided they didn’t want to play lacrosse,” Prout said of his team’s efforts one night earlier. “It was a stinker. Playing back-to-back games is always tough to do. But the guys bounced back. And I’m proud of these guys.”
Brooklin outshot the Kodiaks 53-44 in the contest.Riley Hutchcraft picked up the W between the pipes for Brooklin.
Brooklin’s next game is this Sunday, on the road against the Brampton Excelsiors. The opening faceoff for this match, which will be at the Brampton Memorial Arena, is set for 7 p.m.
Brooklin’s next home contest is next Wednesday against the Peterborough Lakers. Game time is 8 p.m.