Peterborough Lakers Capture First WMSL Provincial Championship

By Scott Arnold

For a team that came within one goal of a championship a year ago, the Peterborough Lakers did not leave much to chance this time.

The Peterborough Lakers celebrate after capturing their first-ever WMSL provincial championship with a 7-5 victory over the defending champion Mimico Mountaineers in Six Nations on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Peterborough Lakers)

The Lakers completed a perfect run through the 2026 Women’s Major Series Lacrosse (WMSL) Provincial Championship on Sunday in Six Nations, defeating the defending champion Mimico Mountaineers 7-5 in the championship final to capture the first WMSL provincial title in franchise history.

And there was a little extra to the matchup.

The final was a rematch of the 2025 championship game, when Mimico edged Peterborough 4-3 in the final hosted at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. A year later, with the championship on the line again, the Lakers turned the tables.

This time, they were the ones celebrating.

A Perfect Weekend

Peterborough's championship run was exactly that: perfect.

The Lakers opened the provincial championship Friday with an 8-3 win over the Niagara Turtle Islanders before returning to the floor later that day and knocking off Mimico 9-5.

They followed that up Saturday with a 6-3 victory over the Whitby Rush and a 7-1 win over the Grand River Attack.

Sunday began with another meeting with Whitby, this time in the semifinal. The Lakers came through with a 4-3 victory to book their place in the championship game.

That set up the rematch everyone would have wanted.

Mimico entered the final as the defending champion, while Peterborough entered it having won every game it had played at the tournament.

By the time the final whistle sounded, the Lakers had made it six wins in six games.

A Strong Start Against The Defending Champions

Peterborough wasted little time putting itself in position to finish the job.

The Lakers scored four times in the opening period while holding Mimico to two goals, taking a 4-2 lead into the first intermission.

Mimico answered with two goals in the second, but Peterborough matched them with two of its own and carried a 6-4 advantage into the final period.

The Mountaineers got one more in the third to pull within a goal, but Nicole Perroni provided the insurance marker with 8:46 remaining, scoring on a setup from Maddy Moloney to make it 7-5.

That proved to be the final goal of the championship game.

Peterborough's defence took care of the rest.

Moloney, Perroni Lead The Way

The Lakers received a huge offensive performance from Maddy Moloney, who scored three times and added an assist in the final.

Nicole Perroni was right there with her, finishing with two goals and three assists for a five-point performance.

Madelyn Baxter added a goal and two assists, while Clare Johnston had a goal and an assist. Shonley Wallace recorded two assists, with Megan Hiltz and Abby Hiltz each adding an assist.

The first-period scoring began with Mimico taking a 1-0 lead, but Peterborough answered with four straight goals.

Baxter tied it at 1-1 with Hiltz and Wallace assisting.

Moloney then put the Lakers ahead, with Perroni and goaltender Chloe Chalmers picking up the assists.

Perroni extended the lead to 3-1, assisted by Wallace and Johnston, before Mimico got one back late in the period.

Peterborough restored its two-goal lead early in the second when Johnston scored, with Baxter and Perroni assisting.

Mimico answered again, but Moloney's third of the game with 4:20 left in the second gave Peterborough a 6-4 lead and proved to be the game-winning goal.

Perroni's third-period marker then put the championship within reach.

A Championship A Year In The Making

The significance of the victory goes beyond one weekend.

The Peterborough Lakers are still a relatively young WMSL organization. The team was launched in 2024, giving local players an opportunity to compete in the province's top women's box lacrosse league while representing their hometown.

That first season ended with a 5-3-1 regular-season record and a trip to the provincial semifinals, where Peterborough fell 2-0 to the eventual champion Whitby Rush.

Then came 2025.

The Lakers not only returned to the provincial championship, but hosted it in Peterborough. The opportunity was particularly meaningful for Chelsea Campbell and Victoria Clark, two lifelong Peterborough lacrosse players who helped bring a WMSL team to the city.

The championship game against Mimico ended in heartbreak, however, as the Mountaineers won 4-3.

There was no consolation in that result, but there was plenty of evidence that Peterborough had arrived as a legitimate contender.

A year later, the Lakers finished what they started.

And they did it against the same team that had stood between them and the championship the year before.

More Than Just A Trophy

When Campbell and Clark talked about bringing women's WMSL lacrosse to Peterborough, the goal was bigger than simply putting another team on the floor.

The Lakers were created to give local women an opportunity to play high-level box lacrosse in the community they call home, while helping build the next generation of women's lacrosse players in Peterborough.

The timing has been particularly significant as women's lacrosse continues to grow.

But ultimately, championships are won by the players on the floor.

This group earned this one the hard way.

Six games. Six wins. A 2025 championship rematch. A five-goal victory over Mimico during the preliminary round. Then a five-goal victory over the defending champions when everything was on the line.

The final score was 7-5.

The record for the tournament was 6-0.

And for the first time, the WMSL provincial championship belongs to Peterborough.

The 2026 Dion Gemmiti Peterborough WMSL Lakers

The championship-winning Lakers lineup included:

Players: Maddy Moloney, Chelsea Campbell, Victoria Clark, Olivia Fredericks, Taya Keast, Anastaisa Thrope, Megan Hiltz, Shonley Wallace, Madalyn Baxter, Grace Shaughnessy, Abby Hiltz, Hayley Bartlett, Clare Johnston, Elyse Young, Lauren Lewis, Lori Vassiliadia, Juliana Gemmiti, Mack Webb, Sadie Henderson, Rachel King, Nicole Perroni and Lexie Kinmond.

Goaltenders: Chloe Chalmers and Lydia Knott.

Coaching and staff: Head Coach Chad Campbell; Assistant Coaches Darryl Gibson, Mary James and Bobby Keast; and Trainer Alicia Wake.

For a team that came so close in 2025, Sunday was not about what might have been.

It was about what finally was.

The Peterborough Lakers are WMSL provincial champions.

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

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