Nick Rose (66 - Peterborough Lakers) and Drew Hutchison (37 - Peterborough Lakers) during a Major Series Lacrosse game between the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers and the Brooklin Lacrosse Club at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on June 25, 2026 in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada/David Pickering - Pick’s Pics
One win vaulted the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers from fifth place into a tie for second place in the MSL standings.
Thursday night, the Lakers (5-4-0) defeated the Brooklin Lacrosse Club (5-5-0) 12-6 at the Memorial Centre. It was the rubber match, with Brooklin winning the first game at the PMC 12-10 and Peterborough winning in Whitby 8-4.
The win marked the first game the Lakers were able to play without callups to fill out the roster. Thomas Hoggarth and Dustyn Birkhof returned from injury, and Ryan Lanchbury played his first home game. Holden Cattoni and Adam Jay are expected back in the next few weeks. When they return, the Lakers will be forced to make some hard decisions about the lineup – suddenly, it’s a whole new season.
“I think this is a roster that’s going to compete for a Mann Cup,” said Hoggarth. “We showed it tonight. We moved the ball, Hutchy played well in net and we have three good goalies. We have a strong defence in the back and the offense is really good with a lot of ball movement.”
Hoggarth scored twice in his return, including the first goal of the game just 2:16 in.
“I think I was worried about scoring and contributing, coming back into the lineup after being off for so long. Being able to score right off the start was a good feeling for me. It feels good playing in Peterborough. It was fun to return.”
Hoggarth was injured in Halifax’s first game of the NLL season in December. He was diagnosed with a bucket handle tear.
“I’d never had it before and I’d never heard of it,” he expressed. “My meniscus partially tore and flipped upside down, so they went in with two scopes and flipped it back over and stitched it up. The rehab was four to six months and talking with my doctors we decided to do the six months to be cautious. I did physio with Pulse in Peterborough and also with (Athletic Trainer) Tash (Legacé) and the Lakers, so it ended up working for me.”
Hoggarth scored a highlight-reel goal to kick off the third period, taking a pass from Justin Sykes and scoring a low shot with his back turned towards the Brooklin goaltender.
Sykes and Taite Cattoni also had multiple goal nights; Sykes had the hat trick and Cattoni potted two diving goals.
Ryan Lanchbury contributed six assists in his PMC debut after scoring twice and helping on two in Sunday’s loss to Cobourg. Seven of the Lakers’ goals against Brooklin came from their left side, with righties Lanchbury and Rob Hellyer (five assists) making sure the ball swung across the floor.
“This is a really talented group,” Lanchbury said. “A lot of veteran guys. The energy felt a little bit different pre-game with the way guys were talking. There was a little extra jump. That’s the way you have to play after a loss, and you expect nothing less from this group.”
Peterborough led 4-1 after the first period and 8-3 after the second period. BLC starter Steve Orleman was pulled in favour of Aden Walsh after allowing six goals. The Lakers continued to dominate in the third, scoring four more times for a 12-3 lead. With 10 goals from the offence, the transition took over: Liam Patten scored a nice fast break goal and Matt Gilray finished off a run with Brad McCulley to put the game out of reach. Brooklin put Orleman back in goal and his team went on a three-goal run to end the game.
Drew Hutchison made 50 saves for Peterborough.
(Article submitted by: Anna Taylor, Social Media Coordinator with the Century 21 Lakers)
