Brett Coons and the Peterborough Timbermen had a big night on Friday as they took down the Oshawa Outlaws 16-13 at Children’s Arena.
The win leapfrogs the Timbermen over the Outlaws and St. Catharines Shockwave into fourth place in the Arena Lacrosse League standings.
Coons had his first-ever lacrosse fight and also his first-ever post-game media interview. He excelled at both.
“We needed that,” he said. “Everything was clicking. From the goalie out we were all working together talking on ‘D’ and the offense was clicking. It was a great team effort.”
The Timbermen fell behind 4-0 but rallied for seven goals in the second quarter. Joel Matthews got the Timbermen on the board at 2:46. Goals from Nick Karam and Zack Thompson quickly followed as the Outlaws had to scramble to adapt to a more confident Timbermen.
“We rallied back and it felt like we matured as the game went on. The guys played great defense and allowed us to come back in the second quarter and we were in a dogfight the rest of the game,” head coach Joe Sullivan said.
Matthews’ second goal of the game, a diving effort from behind the net, gave the Timbermen a 7-6 lead at the half. He also had the first goal of the third period, which kicked off a flurry of action around both nets. Four goals were scored in the first minute and 20 seconds of the quarter.
Coons dropped the gloves with former Peterborough Jr. Laker Tyler Roche at 1:27 after the two got tangled up near the face-off dot. Roche had graduated from the Peterborough junior program before Coons made the jump from Jr. C to Jr. A, so the two had never played together.
“I only know about him,” said Coons on Roche’s tough reputation. “I was hoping for a power play there and he didn’t stop so it was go time.”
Roche was already throwing punches before Coons had dropped his stick, but Coons showed no fear as he got Roche’s bucket off, his jersey over his head and the win as Roche fell to his knees.
Josh Gilray scored a pair of goals 31 seconds apart to tie the game at 11 in the fourth. Zach Tompkinson put the Outlaws on top 12-11 less than a minute later.
But a two-goal swing in the other direction gave Peterborough the momentum. On the penalty kill, Matthews surprised Oshawa goalie Rance Vigneux with a hard shot from way back that had no business going in. Colton Armstrong scored on a fast-break less than a minute later on the same kill. Rylee McKinnon scored the winner 50 seconds after that.
Matthews and Chris Attwood each had four goals for the Timbermen, who were led to victory by Ryan Masters in goal. Mark Vradenburg picked up one goal and four assists to bring his team-leading assist total to 27.
Gilray led the Outlaws with a hat-trick while Mike Triolo scored two goals and four assists. The Outlaws have now lost five games in a row. Two of their initial three wins came against the Timbermen early in the season.
The Timbermen are back in action Saturday, hosting the last-place Six Nations Snipers at Children’s Arena at 7 p.m.
Both players and coaches are expecting another big game.
“We’ll have a little bit of fresh blood in the lineup,” said Sullivan. “When you win its easy to lick your wounds and get at it again… so I would expect the guys to come back pretty hungry tomorrow.”
“Lots left in the tank for sure,” said Coons. “We just have to get a good night’s sleep, get some fluids in us and we’ll be good to go.”
