Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Chiefs stage huge comeback to down Lakers 8-5, even MSL finals 1-1

Vaughn Harris has 5 goals in two games for the Six Nations Chiefs. (Photo: Darryl Smart)
For 53 minutes Tuesday night, the Six Nations Chiefs had trouble scoring and they trailed the Peterborough Lakers 5-3. Then they started to find the back of the net, scoring 5 goals in three and a half minutes to take an 8-5 win and even the Major Series Lacrosse finals at one game each.

Kasey Beirnes started the decisive run when he converted a Colin Doyle pass on top of the crease at 13:24. Just 25 seconds later, Cody Jamieson shovelled a one-handed pass to Roger Vyse who banged it home from almost the same spot where Beirnes had scored. Jesse Gamble then fired back to back goals on outside shots in transition that snuck past Matt Vinc on the near post. Jamieson finished the run ripping one home 16 seconds after Gamble's second goal.

"We said stick to the game plan," said Chiefs Head Coach Rich Kilgour. "I know the guys were getting frustrated but it paid off. Working, working, working then when they started dropping they started dropping. It was a great game. As great as it was, it's still 1-1."


Gamble and Vaughn Harris each had 2 goals to lead the Chiefs. Colin Doyle and Jeff Shattler each added 3 assists. John Grant Jr. and Shawn Evans led the Lakers with 1 goal and 1 assist each.

Gamble scored on a pair of shots that he might not have even taken in normal circumstances, but the Chiefs were doing whatever they could to generate scoring chances. "We were told to take those shots if we had a chance," Gamble said. "Maybe earlier in the game I might not have shot, but at that point we were trying to let some rip, maybe leak off a little early, that kind of thing."

The plan worked for the Chiefs, who were staring down a 2-0 series deficit with seven minutes to play but now head to Peterborough for Thursday's Game 3 all even. "This is good lacrosse right now," said Kilgour. "It's a little rough but clean. This is what lacrosse is about. Two really talented teams that play well and hit hard. Let's line up for Game 3 and see what happens."

All remaining games in the series will be available to watch via live pay per view webcast. Go to the Webcast Sports link in the right-hand column of this site to order games.