Lakers Move Into Third Place After Wild Win Over North Stars

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By Scott Arnold

The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers climbed back above .500 and into third place in the Major Series Lacrosse standings Thursday night, defeating the Owen Sound North Stars 13-5 in a game that featured plenty of offence, as well as a goalie fight late in the second period.

the two goalies went at it thursday night, with owen sound’s Andrew kidd (left) and peterborough’s decan knott squaring up late in the second period

The victory improves Peterborough to 7-6 on the season, moving the Lakers past Brooklin and into third place in the MSL standings with a game in hand.

While the final score was lopsided, the game will likely be remembered for what happened late in the second period.

With the Lakers leading 12-2, Jake Withers was involved in a scrum after being high-sticked in the corner. As officials escorted him away, Owen Sound starting goaltender Kaleb Martin, who had already been pulled earlier in the game, left the North Stars bench to challenge Withers, with the two exchanging several punches after breaking free from the referees who were doing their best to keep them apart.

Seconds after officials separated them, Owen Sound goaltender Andrew Kidd left his crease and sprinted the length of the floor to challenge Lakers netminder Deacan Knott. After both goalies removed their upper equipment and squared up in the Lakers zone, they exchanged punches at the same time. Knott's punch landed flush, sending Kidd stumbling backwards before falling to the turf. All three goaltenders involved in the altercations were ejected from the game.

Before the fireworks, the Lakers had already taken complete control.

Peterborough built a 5-0 lead after the opening period behind two goals from Holden Cattoni, along with singles from Rob Hellyer, Justin Sykes and Mike Robinson. Robinson also made history with one of the night's highlight-reel goals, scoring on a beautiful dunk play from behind the net.

The Lakers stretched their advantage to 12-0 before Owen Sound finally broke through, with Dustyn Birkhof scoring twice in the second period. The veteran defenceman finished with a career-high three points, including the first multi-goal game of his MSL career.

Birkhof downplayed his rare offensive outburst and gave all the credit to his teammates, saying “we’ve just got hard working guys all around on our team, getting all the loose balls and they’re the ones making the play and I just got lucky and got the ball a few times”.

Braedon Saris and DJ Clark also scored twice, Robinson added his second of the night, and Hellyer capped his two-goal performance with Peterborough's final goal in the third period.

Knott stopped the first 35 minutes without allowing a goal before his ejection, while Nick Rose came on in relief to finish the game.

Peterborough received balanced scoring throughout the lineup. Saris led the way with six points on two goals and four assists, while Hellyer recorded five points (2G, 3A). Robinson and Clark each finished with four points (2G, 2A), Cattoni had four points (2G, 2A), Birkhof collected three (2G, 1A), Sykes added two (1G, 1A), Thomas Hoggarth chipped in two assists, and Dylan Hutchison recorded an assist.

The Lakers outshot Owen Sound 59-43 and converted three of six power-play opportunities in front of a crowd of 2,185 at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.

Peterborough returns to action next Thursday when the second-place Oakville Rock make their only regular season visit to the PMC for Little Lakers Night in support of Five Counties Children's Centre.


Scott Arnold is a Journalist and Content Creator at PTBOCanada Media Inc

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