Excelsiors
show true grit and determination
Down by four goals
halfway through the third period, the Brampton Excelsiors
found themselves in the same situation that they
were in just 10 days prior against the same team
in the same building. This time though, with the
playoff buzz in the air the Excels were looking
for a different result.
Cosmo made his initial
trek to the bench with just under seven minutes
to go. The first attempt with the extra attacker
almost blew up in their face, as seconds later a
Kodiak player picked off an errant pass and began
making his way towards the gaping net. Under some
heavy pressure he released the shot from the restraining
line and rang one off the post.
With six minutes
to go the Brampton bench once again called Cosmo
in, but this time the Excelsiors capitalized with
the extra attacker on a perfectly executed passing
display that ended with Jeff Shattler burying it
with 5:47 to go.
On the ensuing draw,
Patrick Merrill won it cleanly to Cam Woods who
streaked down the floor and made no mistake with
5:41 to go.
KW won the next
face-off, but Cosmo sent Chapman flying up the left
side immediately, and before the Kodiaks could react,
he dished the ball off to Manning who put third
goal of the night in the books with 5:13 left.
Now trailing by
only one, the Excelsiors calmed down but did not
stop. Josh Sanderson found Manning cutting through
the middle and feathered in a beautiful pass that
Manning capped off to bring the Excelsiors even
with 4:27 to go. Josh then took a shot from the
top that found the back of the net at 3:27 to give
the Excelsiors the lead.
The Excelsiors had
put up 5 goals in 2 and a half minutes and the Kodiaks
decided it was time to regroup and called a time-out.
With 1:38 to go Joel Wilson was left alone on the
right side and made no mistake as he tied the game
back up for the Kodiaks.
Once again, the
Brampton defense and transition came through though
as Cam Woods picked off a pass and sent McCready
down the floor on his own to give Brampton the lead
back with only 50 seconds to go. This night also
saw Cam Woods earn his 200th Senior point and Pat
McCready tallied his 400th.
KW got caught with
too many men on the floor with 5 seconds to go and
Josh Sanderson buried the penalty shot to ensure
a 13-11 victory for the Excels.
For the complete
box score, visit www.majorserieslacrosse.net.
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