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Playoff Ready?
You Bet!!!
The final regular
season game for the Excelsiors had loads of playoff
implications this year. The math was simple, win
this one last game (capping off a 7 game streak)
and Brampton would finish on top of the MSL standings,
lose and the chances were good that the Excelsiors
would drop to third and miss out on one of the first
round byes. Fans started showing up over an hour
before the game and by the time the game got underway
there was a playoff atmosphere building in the Powerade
Centre.
It took close to
5 minutes before Colin Doyle made a brilliant pass
to Kevin Ross to open the scoring for Brampton.
Blaine Manning followed that up just past the halfway
point with his first of the night. Peterborough
would respond with a transition goal shortly thereafter,
but Blaine would put in his second of the night
on the next possession to regain the 2 goal lead.
Brampton would go to the break leading 3-1.
Just 11 seconds
into the second period Drew Petkoff would grab the
loose ball from the face-off to find a streaking
Sandy Chapman who blasted one past the goaltender.
Former Excelsior Chris Driscoll would get the Lakers
back on the board. In the process of killing off
a second consecutive Peterborough power-play, Dan
Teat would make a run and found himself with more
than enough space to increase the home team lead
(Manning was credited with the goal). Peterborough
got another shortly thereafter, but Josh Sanderson
would find Aaron Wilson with some space, and the
Excelsiors were up by 3 once again. Colin Doyle
would rocket one home with under 3 minutes to go
and Brampton took a 7-3 lead into the final period.
The Lakers were
not about to quit of course, and came out with their
first during their first possession of the third
while the teams were 4 on 4. The Brampton defense
continued to press and it wasn't until the Lakers
found themselves a man up with seven minutes to
go before they were able to get another. The two
teams continued to battle. It almost looked as though
it was over when Peterborough took a penalty with
under two minutes to go, but an errant pass was
snagged and the Laker defender ran the floor to
beat Cosmo and bring the game to within 1 with 45
seconds remaining. With their goalie pulled for
a final five on five attack, Peterborough managed
to get a late penalty call. With 7 seconds on the
clock, a man down, and exhausted from a hard fought
battle all night, the Excelsior Defense stepped
up to the challenge and would not allow an opportunity,
winning the game 7-6.
Brampton finishes
the season with 26 points and a 13-5 record. As
they own the tie breaker against Six Nations (having
won 2 of 3 regular season games) they sit alone
atop the MSL once again. The playoffs begin next
week, but the players from Brampton will be in the
stands watching as they have earned a bye and will
face the lowest seed to advance at the start of
August. Stay tuned to the website for more details
as they become available.
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