Redmen Defeat Lakers in Defensive Struggle, Williams Makes History
6-4 final for the home side tonight after a hard fought Redmen victory over Peterborough.
Shawn Williams came into the game with 2,114 all time points one behind Johnny Davis in second place, by the time the Redmen tied the game at 3-3 at 19:36 of the middle frame Williams had contributed two assists to reach 2,116 all time points and now stands alone in second behind John Tavares. He added one more helper when the Redmen went ahead 4-3 early in the final frame.
Zach Higgins and Evan Kirk were solid in their respective nets and both defensive units were stingy on this night putting on a clinic with well-timed hits, blocked shots and first to loose balls.
The Lakers opened the scoring as Cory Vitarelli scored just over a minute in to the contest. Adrian Sorichetti evened the game a few minutes later but two more for the Lakers gave them a 3-1 lead after one.
The Redmen won the second period 2-0 and the teams left the floor after two knotted at 3-3. The Redmen would net two more to open the final period and the lead to 5-3. The Lakers had not scored since 17:40 of the first period and it wasn’t until there was five minutes to go before in regulation before they could figure out how to beat Higgins. Sorichetti’s second marker of the night was the clincher as that made it 6-4 and the Redmen hung on for the win.
Referees Chris Williams and Blair Ferguson gave both sides the chance to play physical but called them when they were forced to, including a five minute slash to Adam Jones and a two minute slash to Shawn Evans mid-way through the third. Neither team could convert on the power play and shots on net were recorded as 43-41 in favour of the Lakers.
The Redmen have two games remaining in the regular season, a home and home series next week with the Oakville Rock – Monday at the TRAC and Wednesday at Iroquois Park. Playoff seedings will be determined as the regular season is in the final turn and breaking for home. If the season ended today, the Lakers would host Six Nations in the first round and the Redmen would face off against the Rock. Six Nations is the only playoff bound team that has not lost at home, the other three have one defeat at home. On the road, the Lakers are 5-2-1, the Rock are 4-4-0, the Redmen are 3-4-1 and the Chiefs are 2-4-1.