Late Shorthanded Goal Gives Host Excelsiors Victory Over Brooklin

By Sam Laskaris

The early season woes continued for the Brooklin Lacrosse Club on Thursday. The Major Series Lacrosse Club suffered its fifth consecutive loss dropping a 7-6 decision against the host Brampton Excelsiors.

Brooklin, which is still seeking its first victory of the 2019 campaign, led 6-5 heading into the final 20 minutes of action.

But the visitors were unable to net any goals in the final 20 minutes in the match, held at the Brampton Memorial Arena.

The loss was even more disappointing for Brooklin as the Excelsiors’ game-winning goal was a shorthanded marker, with exactly one minute left in the contest.

Brampton’s Jeff Teat completed his hat trick by scoring the game winner.

“It stung a little bit,” Brooklin’s assistant coach Jason Crosbie said of Thursday’s setback. “The learning goes on for us. Learning to be a Major professional kind of player is going to take some time for our young players.”

As has been the case in other losses thus far, some defensive miscues and offensive inconsistencies proved to be Brooklin’s downfall. “We thought we played well enough to win but we’re just not getting the bounces,” Crosbie said, adding Brooklin’s Riley Hutchcraft had a strong performance between the pipes.

Crosbie didn’t want to focus on Brooklin’s last gasp at tying the match and sending it into overtime. “We had lots of other chances during the game,” he said.

Though Brooklin has yet to register a W, Crosbie said his charges are doing their best to stay positive. “It’s not like we haven’t been in these games,” he said. “We’ve been in all these games.”

Curtis Knight led Brooklin’s offence by also scoring a hat trick. Jake Fox added a pair of goals for Brooklin while Ryan MacSpayden had the squad’s other goal. 

Brooklin’s next game is also on the road, this coming Monday (June 17) against the host Oakville Rock. That match, which has an 8 p.m. scheduled faceoff, will be staged at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville. Brooklin will then return home for a contest against the Six Nations Chiefs next Wednesday. That game, which also has an 8 p.m. faceoff, will be at Whitby’s Iroquois Park Sports Centre.