Not Giving Up Without a Fight; Redmen Win in Peterborough
Less than a week ago the Brooklin Redmen were down 3-0 to the Peterborough Lakers in their best of seven semi-final series and the situation looked dire. Fast forward to tonight and the series is at 3-2 after an OT win last Friday and a solid 12-9 win tonight in Peterborough, their first at the Memorial Centre in 2018, and just like that the Redmen are back in the series.
The Redmen set the tone early as Ryan Keenan scored just 0:40 in to the game a give the Redmen a lead they would relinquish briefly in the opening frame when it was 3-2 for the Lakers with 3:30 to go in the first. Mark Matthews tied the game on a power play goal and the teams went to break knotted at 3-3.
The middle frame was exciting for Redmen fans with another early goal, this time off the stick of Curtis Knight. They added a pair unanswered and three in a row later, despite the fact they were penalized three times that period, and led 8-6 after forty minutes.
Josh Currier for the Lakers scored early in the third to close the gap but the Redmen offense found the back of the net one more time than the home side in the final period for the 12-9 win and momentum heading home for game six on Wednesday night.
The Lakers were in the box twice in the first and referees Ian Garrison and Andrew Ecclestone handed the Redmen the aforementioned three minors in the second. The two sides had off-setting minors on two occasions to round off the night and the Redmen were a perfect 2 for 2 on the extra man as the Lakers were 2 for 3.
Scorers for the Redmen were Matthews with two, three each for Keenan and Curtis Knight and singles for Reilly O'Connor and Shayne Jackson. The Redmen will have to play their A game on Wednesday as the Lakers have two more chances to close out the series while the Redmen, now with two wins in a row, will have to match that feat in the hopes of moving on to the next round.