Chiefs let Game 1 slip away

Photo by Peterborough Examiner

It may have been the one that got away.

With a five-goal lead midway through the third period, the Six Nations Pro-Fit Chiefs let minutely allowed the Peterborough Lakers in the doorway, later crashing it in to a 12-11 overtime win Sunday night at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.

The win gives the Lakers a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven  Major Series Lacrosse final.

“We had them in a bad spot and let them wiggle out of it,” Chiefs coach Rich Kilgour said in the post-game scrum after the loss. “That's the way it goes between these two teams. We've played 14 games (in the past two finals) and it was 7-7. Tonight they got 15. We'll regroup and learn from it.”

After junior A callup Austin Staats scored two more goal – his third and fourth of the night – to give the Chiefs an 11-6 lead, the Lakers fed off the home crowd and pecked away.

Adam Jones scored twice, whileJohn Grant Jr. added one, before Shawn Evans forced overtime with his goal with three minutes left in regulation.

In overtime, Jones was the hero, scoring twice, before Craig Point made it a one-goal game.

“I think lots of teams will say they'd rather win a game like that than a blowout,” Jones said. “It builds character and gives us confidence the rest of the series, that if we're down a few goals there is always hope.”

In the first period, Evans got the Lakers going four minutes in, but the Chiefs roared back with goals from Ryan Benesch, Staats and Dan Dawson.

The Chiefs got the better of the second-period scoring as well, with Dhane Smith adding two goals, while Dave Brock, Craig Point, and Staats scored one goal each.

Dillon Ward did what he could to keep the Lakers at bay, making 50 saves in the defeat, while Evan Kirk was forced to make 49 stops in the win.

The MSL final now shifts to the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena Tuesday, with Game 3 back at the PMC Thursday, and Game 4 Sunday at the ILA. All games are at 8 p.m.