Photo courtesy of: Anna Taylor, Century 21 Lakers
A few days after a triumphant return to form over Brooklin, the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers suffered a 13-9 loss to the Oakville Rock at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre Monday night.
Their record falls back to .500 at 5-5 and they remain in third place while Oakville pulls four points ahead.
The good news: Holden Cattoni returned to the lineup and contributed a hat trick. Adam Jay returned to the defence. Both had missed the last month after injuries from the Lakers’ first game in Oakville.
The bad news: Cattoni left after scoring his third goal and did not return. Nick Rose (35 saves) left the game after the second period after Isiah Moran-Weekes crashed into him during a crease dive attempt at the end of the period. Deacan Knott (12 saves) played the third period.
“Offensively, I know the guys struggled to get some rhythm after Holden went down. So you take 99 out of our lineup, he had three to start, that’s a tough gap to fill,” said defensive coach Bobby Keast. “I think Oakville played a complete 60 minutes and I don’t think we did. They made the most of their opportunities. They’re a very good team and the execute their game plan very well.”
Peterborough led 1-0 and 3-2 but Oakville led 5-3 after the first period. They increased their lead to 6-3 in the second before Cattoni’s hat trick goal at 3:48, which sparked the transition to step up. Justin Sykes scored on the break at 4:18, and Jordan Stouros’ first of the year came at 6:34 which tied the game 6-6. But the sticks fell quiet after that, partly due to the play of former Laker Landon Kells in the Rock net. Kells made 46 saves, jumping on every shot to block any second chances.
The Rock outscored Peterborough 5-2 in the final period.
“At both ends of the floor they did a good job of containing or controlling ground balls,” said Keast. “I think we got better as the game went on in the defensive end of things but it’s not an easy game. Everyone has a good team. It’s not a gimme, so you have to work hard if you want to have the results at the end.”
Josh Dawick, Sam LeClair and Carson Moyer all had hat tricks for Oakville with four, three and two assists, respectively.
(Article submitted by: Anna Taylor, Social Media Coorindator with the Century 21 Lakers)
