Brooklin had the start they wanted, scoring the game’s first three goals for a 3-0 lead with 8:05 left in the period. Holden Cattoni got Peterborough on the board late in the period for a 3-1 score going into the second period.
The games seemed to be all Brooklin as they opened with another multi-goal run of two to open the period. It was not until over halfway through the period that Carter Page scored for Peterborough and it was 5-2 after two periods in a low-scoring affair.
Down by three, Peterborough had to muster a comeback to keep their season alive. Joe Resetarits scored for the Lakers just near the halfway point to bring Peterborough within two goals. Taite scored just 83 seconds later to cut the deficit in half.
Brooklin had the ball with 42 seconds in regulation, coming out of a timeout, and Peterborough forced pressure with three men to cause a turnover. The Lakers had set up in the offensive zone. Resetarits made a cross-crease pass to Taite and one-timed it through the back of the net for a tie game and into overtime.
Just over four minutes had passed in overtime as Taite had the ball in his hands again. He went from point to point on the floor and rifled a bounce shot that slipped by the Brooklin goaltender for the natural hat trick and the game-winning walk-off goal to send the series back to Peterborough for game seven.
“We knew we played a pretty poor 40 minutes and the season's on the line,” explained Taite. “We had to come alive as a group and lucky enough and fortunate enough, I had a good third period and it was my turn to go. That's the great thing about this team, every night it can be a different guy that steps up and makes a difference.”
