Lakers Fall at Home Opener to Brampton Excelsiors 14-13; Peterborough Raises Fourth-Straight Championship Banner

The winless Brampton Excelsiors bested the undefeated Peterborough Century 21 Lakers home opener and banner-raising ceremony before 3,412 fans with a 14-13 win at the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Thursday night.

Captain Robert Hope leads the Peterborough Lakers put during their home opener ceremonies before facing off against the winless Brampton excelsiors. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The Lakers debuted their new-look jerseys at home with more visible names on the back and the letters ‘S.H.’ in the top left corner. The initials are in memory of equipment manager Steve Hynes who passed away peacefully at 72 in Hospice Peterborough last month. He served the team for over a decade prior to his passing.

Brampton was looking to quiet the crowd early as Robert Hudson got the Excelsiors on the board first 6:09 into the game. The visiting team was winning the possession and shots battle and it paid off. With 4:35 left in the period, James Whiteford extended the Brampton lead, 2-0 and kept Peterborough off the board. The winless Excelsiors kept their foot on the gas pedal as 39 seconds later, Carter Zavitz joined in on the scoring to make it 3-0.

Peterborough finally ended the drought as Taite Cattoni scored his first of the game for the Lakers 30 seconds later for a 3-1 game. The defending champions were not done yet. With sustained offensive pressure and good movement, Thomas Hoggarth threw a low shot that made contact with Brampton goalie Lucas Nagy but it squeaked through the five-hole to cut the deficit to one. Mitch Ogilvie threw one from the point to tie the game just nine seconds later to make it a 3-3 tie.

But as quick as the game was tied, it just as quickly became trouble for Peterborough. Seth Vanschepen restored Brampton’s lead. Things got worse for the Lakers as Eric Shewell had a cross-checking penalty that led to a Tanner Thompson goal just 12 seconds left in the period. The Excelsiors were not done yet as they quickly won the faceoff and Josh Medeiros got on the board to restore Brampton’s three-goal lead in the final six seconds of the period. It was 6-3 for the visiting team as the Lakers were off to a rough start in their home opener.  

Josh Currier made his return to the lineup after being unable to play in the playoffs from an injury. He got things kickstarted for the Lakers as he scored from the point 73 seconds into the second period to cut Brampton’s lead to two, 6-4.

The Excelsiors committed a holding the stick penalty but that proved to be ironically worked in favour of Brampton. Thompson dashed across Lakers goalie Drew Hutchinson (who was already having a rough night in net) and beat him low for a shorthanded goal and a 7-4 lead. Just over six minutes later, Thompson struck again on a low shotfor a hat trick to get Brampton pulling away 8-4.

The woes kept coming for the Lakers as 18 seconds later, Hudson got his second of the night, 9-4. Peterborough’s powerplay continued to be counter productive as Hudson on a fast break, scored on a solo mission for the hat trick shorthanded for a 10-4 Brampton lead.

Peterborough finally broke Brampton’s run and capitalized on the powerplay as Holden Cattoni found himself on the score sheet. Holden found back-to-back goals for Peterborough scoring again, making two goals in 50 seconds to round out the second period. Brampton controlled the game with a 10-6 lead.

The Lakers got off on the right foot in the third period as they controlled the offensive attack which led to a Turner Evans goal and cut Brampton’s deficit by three. Brampton quickly countered with a goal from Zavitz and the four-goal lead was restored.

Holden kept Peterborough within striking distance as he capped off a hat trick with his third goal of the game to make it 11-8 for Brampton. Evans got his second goal of the period and game for the Lakers on their next position shooting low and beating Nagy to trail only by two goals with just under 15 minutes left in regulation.

Brampton retaliated once again as Thompson kept the hot hand going, tacking on his fourth goal of the game. Peterborough would not go away yet as Holden received a great pass into the slot and beat Nagy for his own fourth goal of the game. Lucas Ferreira made his way to the score sheet for Brampton as he lasered one from the point, beating Hutchinson to again make it a three-goal lead, 13-10.

Brampton had a fast break going two on two and won the battle with Medeiros getting his second goal of the game, beginning to put it out of reach for Peterborough with a 14-10 lead. Just under three minutes left, Peterborough kept it interesting as Holden struck again, this time on the powerplay for his fifth goal of the game to put the Lakers within three.

Peterborough pulled their goalie but created dangerous chances for Brampton. The Lakers were able to negate two empty net chances and were rewarded with a goal. This time from Holden’s brother Taite to reduce the gap to two with 1:46 left in the game.

Peterborough kept up pressure and got exactly what they needed as Taite struck again for back-to-back goals with 86 seconds left. Peterborough won the draw and went back on the attack again but was stopped by Nagy and the ball was turned over. Hutchinson made the point stop and Peterborough had a chance in the dying half minute of the game.

Peterborough cycled the ball, looking for a lane to shoot, they took it to the middle but bounced wide and time expired as Brampton held on for the 14-13 win.

The Excelsiors get their first win of the season in their fourth game and move to 1-3-0 while the Lakers take their first loss, falling to 2-1-0.

The Lakers hit the road to play the Cobourg Kodiaks for their next game on Sunday night. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

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