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How does that saying go? Offense wins games, defense wins championships, and goaltenders win Mann Cups? Last night on the strength of an opaque series from Anthony Cosmo the Brampton Excelsiors completed their sweep of the New Westminster Salmonbellies with a 9-6 game four final, securing themselves the Mann Cup championship. Cosmo stopped 41 of 47 shots in the victory and over the course of four games allowed just 19 goals, with Tuesday’s six being the most the Salmonbellies could muster in one evening after the Excelsiors downed the Bellies 8-5, 6-5, and 7-3 in games previous. For his efforts, Cosmo earned the Mike Kelly Award for the Mann Cup series MVP.

“If you could give an MVP trophy to every person in our defensive group that would be the way to do it but [Cosmo] is the key to our defense and he certainly delivered, he deserved it. He’s been our man all year,” said Brampton forward Colin Doyle.

The game began with plenty of pretty two-way play from each team, with the opening goal coming from Salmonbellies call-up and Calgary Roughnecks draft pick Curtis Manning, who reeled in a Dave Morgan pass to take the lead on a transition goal just over eight minutes in. Not quite five minutes later Jamie Floris bumped the score to 2-0 after Ilija Gajic orchestrated a goal from the top of the crease. The Brampton Excelsiors had been too dominant all series to let the Salmonbellies bring a lead into the second period, however, so with just over four minutes remaining Aaron Wilson took a feed from Josh Sanderson to pump in a powerplay goal, and then with just 23 seconds on the clock Dan Dawson linebackered his way past Ian Hawksbee and Wade DeWolff to reach past Matt Roik and tuck in the equalizer.

The Excelsiors exploded in the second period, outshooting the Salmonbellies 24-17 and outscoring them 4-2 while Sandy Chapman and Mike Carnegie played relentless D and Phil Sanderson found a way to nearly every looseball anywhere near the Brampton net. Kicking things off on the scoreboard was Dan Dawson once again, charging off the bench to accept a Josh Sanderson pass and smoking a bounce shot past Roik for the go-ahead goal at 3:26. The lead would only belong to the Excelsiors for just over three minutes until Cliff Smith found an opening on the powerplay. The next two goals were Brampton’s, with Jeff Shattler carrying his goal all the way up the floor and Blaine Manning putting one in short-handed with just under three minutes remaining. After Cosmo shut down Curtis Manning on another transition breakaway with just under two minutes to play in the period, Chris Gill clawed the Salmonbellies back within one on the powerplay with 1:22 on the clock, but with 30 seconds left the Excelsiors called a time-out, kept Cosmo on the bench, and set up Dan Teat who beat Roik high to take a two goal lead into the third period, 6-4.

The Salmonbellies came out on fire in the third period, with Ilija Gajic throwing his body around like a frisbee at a company picnic, but it would be Brampton who would strike first with Manning sweeping in the Excelsiors’ seventh goal. The Bellies got that one back quickly with Peter Morgan blasting in a big outside shot to pull back within two. Doyle marked up the scoresheet next for the Excelsiors, making things 8-5 with nearly 13 minutes remaining and just over five minutes later Brodie Merrill cranked the lead to four goals, 9-5. With Roik running to the bench for every offensive set, Nenad Gajic gave the Salmonbellies their last gasp, scoring their sixth and final goal with 4:02 on the clock. They will return to New Westminster still in search of their 25th Mann Cup, while the top trophy in Canadian lacrosse will find a home in Brampton for the next 12 months for the second time in six years.

“Our experience certainly showed, but I think what gets overlooked is the hard work that we put in,” said Doyle. “People just think we’re automatically gifted and that we’re skilled and that’s why we win but the truth is, everybody on that floor works so hard and that’s why I think that at the end of the day we’re the champions.”

For the Excelsiors, Dan Dawson had two goals and three assists, Manning two and two, and Josh Sanderson chipped in with four helpers. Peter Morgan had one goal and three assists for the Salmonbellies. Roik made 35 saves. Players of the game were Manning and Nenad Gajic.

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