Lack of Offensive Punch Undid BLC in Loss to Lakers

By Mark Stehlin

On a night when BLC honoured 2023 Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductees, Jennifer Johnson and Gavin Prout, they were looking to celebrate a second season win over the visiting Peterborough Lakers. An offensive drought for the majority of the first period and all of the middle frame would be the downfall for the home team as they came up short in a 7-6 loss. That drops BLC to 6-3 and leaves the Lakers chasing them for second in the standings at 5-4. Six Nations at 9-0 and leads the table.

The first period started exactly as head coach Joel Johnson drew it up before the contest.  His team got off to a great start scoring the first two of the night before most fans had a chance to settle into their seats. The Lakers added two of their own in the first period and the teams went to break knotted at 2-2.

- photo by Sam Hossack

Johnson said after the game "we started the game the way we wanted to but the second period was clearly not good enough for us."

It was that middle frame that would hurt BLC on this night. The home team could not muster any offense and the Lakers won that period by a score of 4-0 to take a 6-2 lead into the final 20 minutes.

Johnson added "we made a number of mistakes in the second and a team like the Lakers made us pay." He said "the message to the players after a goalless second was to "not overcomplicate things, we weren't moving the ball or our feet and taking the first shot opportunity rather than looking for something better".

The final period was better for the home side and had fans out of their seats on a few occasions. Dawson Theede scored his first of three in that period to try and mount a comeback. The Lakers added one of their own but BLC countered within 20 seconds and it was game on.  The Lakers got into some late penalty trouble and their hosts made them pay adding two on the power play to close the gap to 7-6 with four minutes to go. This was as close as BLC could get on this night as they were on the short end of a 7-6 final.

Facing some adversity tonight, Johnson said, "I liked how we played in the third period but it was too little too late".  He added "the goal is to build on this game, learn from the experience and take it forward to Saturday in Brampton."

Keenan (0,1) T Cook (1,3) Theede (3,1) Waters (1,0) C Kearnan (1,3) B Kearnan (0,2) Knight (0,1) 

Zach Higgins was in net for the home team and faced 39 Lakers shots.

The team will load up their gear for a rare Saturday matinee in Brampton. They will meet the Oakville Rock for the first time this season on Monday at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre before hosting the same Rock team on Wednesday July 10 at 8 pm for their regular season finale. 

The BLC and Merchants Lacrosse are hosting a night at Brock St Brewing Co. on Thursday July 11 to send both teams off to the playoffs on a high note. The teams have also organized a golf tournament for Monday July 22 at Wolf Run Golf Club, reach out to Gavin Prout at gavin@sbis.ca for all information.