NLL Insider

Just one week ago, we were admiring the four-way tie atop the Major Series Lacrosse standings. Today, we’re looking at the standings and telling ourselves, “I told ya so.” A 3-0 week for the Peterborough Lakers puts them all alone at the top with 20 points (10-4 record). The Lakers surely are no strangers to the top spot, and we’re not about to imply they’ve got this thing wrapped up, not with just less than two weeks left in the regular season. But it is interesting to note how the Lakers are putting it all together, with faces new and old, including Geoff Snider.

We told you about Snider’s arrival in Peterborough last week and he promptly assisted on two goals in his first game with the Lakers, a 9-7 win over Brooklin. Derek Collins was in goal for the ‘Borough and made 35 saves before the boys ran into a stubborn Six Nations squad. Pat O’Toole was back in cage for the Lakers and made 48 saves, sending Six Nations goalie Matt Vinc, who made an amazing 59 saves, to the tough-luck loss. Six Nations rallied with three goals in the third to send the game into overtime, but another Peterborough newcomer, Tracey Kelusky, scored the winner in overtime before Mac Allen added an insurance goal.

In Sunday’s 15-8 win over St. Regis, Snider was an animal on faceoffs, winning 23-of-26 and also contributing a pair of goals and assists for the Lakers, who now have won 6 of their last 7. Of note, too, Snider had just 10 penalty minutes in the three games. He told The Peterborough Examiner that he’s not in town to fight and instigate, but that doesn’t mean he won’t.

“I’m not here to turn anything into a circus,” he told the Examiner. “I want to win a championship and help Peterborough win a championship — that’s my priority.”

As for the rest of the circuit, Brampton maintained its pace with a 2-0 week, scoring a pair of victories over Kitchener-Waterloo, 13-6 and 15-5. The Excelsiors (18 points, 9-5 record) are tied for second with Six Nations (18, 9-4), who split their week’s games with a 7-5 loss to K-W and a big 19-6 win over Barrie.

And speaking of Barrie, the Lakeshores put themselves in a good spot for the final playoff berth with a 10-8 win over Brooklin that sent the Redmen into the basement. The young Lakeshores aren’t about to celebrate just yet, though, not with one more showdown looming with Brooklin and just two points separating them in the standings.

“We’re a young team,” Brad Trottier told The Barrie Examiner. ” We try not to get ahead of ourselves. We try to concentrate on one game. We do try to take it one game at a time.”

Tied for third are St. Regis and K-W, who each have 14 points.

Loose balls: Brooklin went 0-2 for the week, including the loss to Barrie which was the team’s first without the recently traded Shawn Williams … The race for the MSL scoring title is a tight one. Cody Jamieson and Josh Sanderson are knotted at the top with 62 points each, followed by Shawn Williams (62), Ryan Benesch (59) and Shawn Evans (54). … If Peterborough’s gonna keep its standing as top dog, it’s gonna have its work cut out for it this week with a home game against St. Regis (Thursday) and a road game against rival Brampton (Sunday). … Of the Lakers’ 35 goals in their three wins last week, 10 came from the power play unit that went 10-for-17.

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