MSL Semifinal Series Shifts to Peterborough Tonight for Game 2 Between Lakers and Rock

By Scott Arnold

The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers are back on home floor tonight with a chance to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five Major Series Lacrosse semifinal series against the Oakville Rock.

the lakers will host the rock tonight for game two of their semifinal series, marking their first postseason meeting at the pmc since the msl finals in 2018 (photo courtesy of the peterborough lakers, via david pickering)

Peterborough opened the series with a 10-7 road win on Tuesday night, extending its winning streak to five games after closing out the regular season with four straight victories.

The Lakers got balanced scoring in Game 1, led by Thomas Hoggarth's five-point performance, while goaltender Drew Hutchison turned aside 47 shots to backstop the victory.

This semifinal series is the first time these teams have matched up in the postseason in eight years, with tonight marking the first playoff game between the Lakers and Rock in Peterborough since 2018, when the clubs met in the MSL Final. Peterborough won that series in six games before going on to capture the Mann Cup over Maple Ridge.

There are some interesting connections between the two teams as well. Oakville goaltender Nick Rose was the Rock's starter during that 2018 final before later joining the Lakers, while the Rock's roster now includes Tye Steenhuis and Justin Tavares. Their fathers, Mark Steenhuis and John Tavares, were teammates on Peterborough's Mann Cup championship teams in 2010 and 2012.

With the series now shifting to the Peterborough Memorial Centre, the Lakers will look to protect home floor before the series heads back to Oakville for Game 3 on Saturday. Game time tonight is 8pm with tickets available online and at the PMC Box Office.

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

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