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Amazing
Comeback gets Brampton 1 step closer
With the Ontario Lacrosse Festival
in full swing there was a packed house in Whitby
Wednesday night to witness the MSL semi-final action
between the Redmen and the Excelsior's… and did
they ever get a treat.
Coming off the momentum of a much
better performance in Game 2 of the series, Brooklin
came out of the gate with a lot of the same drive
that saw them put away the Kitchener Waterloo Kodiaks
in three straight games, and they had their veteran
goaltender Miron back between the pipes. Brooklin
would draw first blood just over 5 minutes into
the game which would be the first lead that they
have had in this series. Brampton's Blaine Manning
would answer 30 seconds later as he walked in from
the side of the net. Brooklin would regain the lead
2 minutes later, but the first penalty of the game
to either side would end with Dan Dawson netting
a goal and marking his 500th career point with a
blast from the top. Brooklin would score once again
before the period was over to take a 3-2 lead into
the break.
Colin Doyle was left unmatched 1
minute into the second and made no mistake to tie
up the game once again. Brooklin would re-take the
lead with a powerplay marker that saw Anthony Cosmo
caught out of position, and would then add to their
lead later in the period after Brampton killed off
two other penalties including 30 seconds of 5 on
3. Josh Sanderson would solve Miron with two and
a half minutes to go to bring the Excelsiors back
to within one to end the period 5-4 Brooklin.
Once again Colin Doyle would tie
up the game for the Excelsiors as he worked his
way into the middle and put one in just over 2 minutes
into the final frame. Another Brooklin powerplay
goal was scored, but was answered with a quick breakaway
goal by Patrick Merrill just 19 seconds later to
knot the game up once again. At the halfway point
with the Excelsiors killing off yet another penalty,
an errant pass was picked off creating a 2 on 1
and Brooklin had the lead once again. On Brampton's
2nd powerplay of the night just a few minutes later,
Brooklin would snag another loose ball creating
a breakaway that they capitalized on to push their
lead back to 2.
There was a lot of intensity in
the heat of the IPSC, but the Excelsiors were not
going to go away. Cosmo began making his trips to
the bench with just under 3 minutes to go. The first
attempt didn't yield any results, but with 2:15
remaining the Excelsiors swung the ball from Doyle
to Dawson to Manning who blasted it home to get
Brampton within one. Brooklin won the ensuing draw,
but when Brampton came back down the floor with
Cosmo returning to the bench the same play was run
with the same results bringing the game back to
even with under a minute and a half to go. The teams
traded opportunities in the final minute, but Brampton
regained the ball with 14 seconds remaining and
called their final time-out. The same six players
took the floor and everyone in the stands and probably
the entire Brooklin team expected Colin Doyle to
once again find Blaine Manning on the right side,
but Colin took the shot himself from the middle
and made no mistake in finding the back of the net
with only 2 seconds remaining on the clock. Final
score Brampton 9 Brooklin 8.
Brampton takes their 3-0 series
lead back to Brooklin on Friday night at 8:30 where
they hope to end the series for some much needed
rest while awaiting the results of the other Semi-final
which Peterborough leads 2-0. Brooklin will not
go away easily as they have improved in every game
of the series so far, and would love to force another
game back in the Powerade Centre on Monday night.
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