The Peterborough Lakers (1-0) opened their 2023 Major Series Lacrosse season visiting the Brampton Excelsiors (0-2) at the Memorial Arena in Brampton, Ontario Thursday night.
Peterborough is ramping up to try and do something no team has ever done – Win five consecutive Mann Cups.
The goaltending match-up had Drew Hutchison in net for Peterborough against Lucas Nagy for Brampton.
The Excelsiors played hard in their opening game against Six Nations but weren’t able to beat the more experienced squad. It didn’t get any easier with the MSL and Mann Cup champions coming to town, but the young Excelsiors gave it everything they had to try and get into the win column.
Peterborough held on for an 11-8 victory on the strength of Thomas Hoggarth (3g,0a), Holden Cattoni (2g,2a) and Shawn Evans (1g,5a).
The Excelsiors put up a good fight all night, almost coming out victorious. James Whiteford (2g,2a) and Henry Follows (2g,1a) led the charge for the Brampton team in the loss.
To The Game:
The Lakers got on the board first when Adam Churchill converted a Josh Currier pass at 6:22, followed by Thomas Hoggarth scoring off a Shawn Evans feed at 8:42.
James Whiteford got the Excelsiors rolling, converting a Jeremy Searle pass at 10:09, but was answered immediately by Thomas Hoggarth with his second of the period off an Adam Churchill feed at 11:25. With just 0:45 seconds left in the period Jordan Stouros caught Matt Gilray with a pass in transition beating Lucas Nagy to increase the Lakers lead to three.
After one period, Peterborough 4 Brampton 1.
Second Period:
The Excelsiors got on the board first when Rory Graham scored unassisted at 1:03, but the Lakers again answered back when Joel Taylor finished off a Caleb Creasor pass at 2:48. Holden Cattoni added to the lead with a blast off an Austin Hasen pass at 5:12, but Brampton came back with Henry Follows beating Drew Hutchison off a Curtis Goddard feed just 0:27 seconds later.
Turner Evans scored on the power-play off a Shawn Evans pass at 7:01, followed by Shawn Evans himself scoring shorthanded off an Eric Shewall pass at 12:24. Tyler Ferriera scored on the power-play for Brampton off a Henry Follows feed at 13:40.
After two periods, Peterborough 8 Brampton 4.
Third Period:
Thomas Hoggarth opened the third period scoring with his third of the night for Peterborough off a Shawn Evans pass at 3:38, followed by Holden Cattoni scoring his second of the night on the power-play also off a Shawn Evans pass at 8:02.
The Excelsiors made a push scoring three times. Henry Follows scored off a Tanner Thomson pass at 8:32, followed by Carter Zavitz finishing off a James Whiteford feed at 12:55. Alec Simons continued the Excelsiors comeback scoring off a Carter Zavitz pass at 13:20, but Matt Gilray stopped the Brampton run scoring in transition unassisted at 14:02.
Brampton’s James Whiteford scored off a Tanner Thomson pass at 17:22 to bring the game within three goals, but it was too little too late.
Final score, Peterborough 11 Brampton 8.
The Three Stars:
1. Shawn Evans
2. Thomas Hoggarth
3. James Whiteford
- Peterborough went 3 for 3 on the power-play, also scoring shorthanded.
- Brampton went 1 for 2 on the power-play.
Top Scorers:
Peterborough Lakers:
- Shawn Evans 1g, 5a
- Holden Cattoni 2g, 2a
- Thomas Hoggarth 3g, 0a
Brampton Excelsiors:
- James Whiteford 2g, 2a
- Henry Follows 2g, 1a
- Tanner Thomson 0g, 3a
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Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
