NLL Insider

It’s playoff time in Major Series Lacrosse and you know what that means. Yeah, emotions. Boiling over. It’s a fine balance, playing with enough intensity to fire up your team and at the same time, keeping those emotions in check. But it looks like the Lakers weren’t able to hold it in and it cost them to the tune of 59 penalty minutes, including a bench-clearing incident, in a 14-7 Game 4 loss Sunday night to Six Nations at the Memorial Centre. Still, the Lakers hold a 3-1 lead in this semifinal series while the Brampton Excelsiors hold a 2-1 lead in their semifinal series with the St. Regis Indians.

So what happened Sunday night? Lakers coach Jamie Batley wasn’t too keen about the officiating, but did tell The Peterborough Examiner that the ultimate reason for his team’s loss rests with his team’s lack of discipline, not the officials. The discipline will return for tonight’s Game 5 at Six Nations, where the Lakers can clinch the series. Besides that, he’s a realist, he said. “They’re a good team and we didn’t expect to beat them four straight,” Batley told the Examiner.

The big scene Sunday night came at the end of the first period when Peterborough’s Geoff Snider took exception to a hit that Billy Dee Smith of Six Nations put on Dan Carey. The check knocked Carey to the floor and Snider rushed in, but the only real fight was between Peterborough’s Chris White and Six Nations’ Cal Smith. “It was a high hit on Dan Carey,” Snider told the Examiner.

The situation died down but Peterborough’s Shawn Evans managed an ejection and game-misconduct in the game’s final moments, so he’ll have to keep his temper in check for the rest of the post-season in order to avoid a mandatory two-game suspension.

Still, the Lakers are in great shape. They built their 3-0 series lead with a steady offense led by Shawn Evans, who put up 9 goals in the first three games, including four goals in each of the first two games. The return of John Grant Jr. in Game 2 provided five points (2-3) for the Lakers and the return of Scott Evans didn’t provide any points in Game 3, but it had to be a spiritual lift to see one of the team’s leaders back on the floor as he rehabs that injured knee suffered last fall preparing for the National Lacrosse League season in Rochester.

Pat O’Toole’s work in goal held the Chiefs to 25 goals in the first three games, but SN found its groove midway through Sunday’s Game 4 thanks to an 11-point effort by Craig Conn. Conn had 6 goals in the first three games but had 3 goals and 8 assists in the Chiefs’ win. Cody Jamieson, held to 1 goal and 3 assists in Games 2 and 3, rediscovered his touch with 4 goals and 3 assists on Sunday and Roger Vyse added 4-1.

As encouraging as Sunday’s win might be for Six Nations, the Chiefs have a tall order in front of them, needing three straight wins to avoid ending their season.

In the other semifinal series, Brampton has a 2-1 lead on St. Regis and it’s been anything but a cakewalk for the Excelsiors. Both of their wins have come by three goals and it’s been a study in contrasts. Shawn Williams (2-3) and Dan Dawson (2-2) led the way in the Game 1 victory, a 13-10 offensive game, while Anthony Cosmo anchored Friday’s 8-5 defensive victory for the Excelsiors.

Game 2’s result was a 13-12 win for St. Regis and the usual culprit was front and center: Mark Steenhuis. Steener had 3 goals and 5 assists, but he also got a lot of help from John Tavares (2-4) and Pat Maddelena (3-2). Steenhuis has 9 goals and 10 assists in the series and the Indians will need more of that if they’re going to knock off the defending Mann Cup champs.

The other factor working for St. Regis is the appearance of Paul Day as coach. It was a quiet move made a few weeks ago by St. Regis, but Day is behind the bench for the Indians because general manager Troy Mitchell likes his familiarity with many of the St. Regis players, according to the the Standard-Freeholder.

The series continues tonight at Brampton, with Game 5 scheduled for Wednesday at Brampton.

Loose balls: Tracey Kelusky didn’t score a goal in Peterborough’s first two games but responded with three in each of the next two. He told The Examiner it’s all part of his role on a team with so many offensive weapons … Steenhuis is doing his part offensively for St. Regis, but was he really getting ready to fight at the end of Game 2? With Colin Doyle? … Hard to believe that Game 2 between Peterborough and Six Nation was tied 7-7 early in the third period, but a 7-goal run by the Lakers took care of that. … Steenhuis has a pretty good handle on the playoff points lead, despite having just 6 games under his belt.

Rate This Story:

(+18 rating, 4 votes)

 Loading ...