|
Lakers
Respond
Game 2 of the MSL finals started
off on a high note as the Excelsiors hoped to carry
forward the momentum from their 11-5 victory in
game 1. On the first Brampton possession of the
game Jeff Shattler sent a low ball through a screen
and found the back of the net. With less than 90
seconds gone from the clock, Blaine Manning would
pick up a rebound out front and bury it behind O'Toole
to give the Excelsior's the 2-0 lead. Just 2 minutes
later, Brampton found themselves on the power-play
and had a chance to really put some pressure on,
but Peterborough would break up the first play and
go the length of the floor to score a short-handed
marker. Peterborough would then have a power-play
of their own, but they were able to capitalize on
it to bring the game back to even. The Lakers would
score the next one with 9 minutes to go for their
first lead of the game. The Excelsiors thought that
they had tied up the game with another goal from
Jeff Shattler in the last second, but the ruling
was made that it was after the buzzer. 3-2 Peterborough
after 1 period (same as game 1).
Josh Sanderson would tie up the
game with a blast from the outside 5 minutes into
the second frame, but Peterborough would respond
with 3 goals in quick succession to take their biggest
lead of the year against Brampton with 12 minutes
to go in the period. The Excelsiors didn't panic
though. Josh found Dan Dawson open in front at the
12 minute mark and Dawson made no mistake. 2 minutes
later Aaron Wilson floated one over the shoulder
of the Peterborough netminder, and then with 3 minutes
to go in the period Dawson found himself free in
front once again to tie it up (goal was credited
to Wilson). The period ended in a 6-6 tie heading
into the final stanza.
Peterborough would draw first blood
as they found a loose ball right in front of the
Brampton net and put it past Cosmo 3 minutes into
the period. Colin Doyle would get that one back
as he blasted one into the net after streaking from
the bench. Brampton would go on to have numerous
attempts at the lead with breakaways from Shattler,
Scott Carnegie and others, but O'Toole was on top
of his game and denied them all. That is until with
6 and a half minutes to go Colin Doyle flipped the
ball over to a wide open Sandy Chapman who threw
a fake and then buried the ball over the far shoulder
to give Brampton the lead. Unfortunately the game
was not over, and Peterborough would tie it up once
again with 4 minutes remaining, and took the lead
back 2 minutes later. The Excelsiors made several
valiant attempts, but the game would end 9-8 Peterborough.
The series now converts to a best
of 5 and the next stop in the battle will be in
Brampton on Wednesday August 20th at 8:00 at the
Powerade Centre. The Excelsiors will have to take
the positives that they can from these games and
re-focus their attention to the task at hand if
they want to win this game and continue on to win
the series and host the Mann Cup.
|
