The Peterborough Timbermen finished the regular season with a loss to the Oshawa Outlaws on Saturday afternoon, but if a loss can ever be called a good one, this 13-12 defeat would be it.
And it was a good lacrosse game. There was plenty of back-and-forth action, physicality, hard work and a large crowd behind the team cheering them on.
The game was played in front of a capacity crowd of close to 200 fans on Saturday afternoon. It was the biggest crowd the Timbermen have drawn in their two seasons calling the arena home. Many fans dressed in plaid to support the team, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the players.
“It was awesome. They really helped with our momentum,” said Aaron Woods, who scored five goals. “When we scored, we could hear the crowd getting into it. We heard their reactions whenever we hit the post. It was really cool to see that many people out enjoying the game.”
Woods had a first quarter hat trick while Fred Hartley also got on the scoresheet, but the Outlaws led 5-4 after the opening 15 minutes. Two shorthanded goals from Oshawa late in the period on the same penalty kill were the difference.
Brine Rice scored the only goal of the second quarter for a 5-5 tie at halftime.
The game had its tense moments, such as when Kaleb Bingley was checked backwards through an open door on Oshawa’s bench. There was no penalty called on the play as Oshawa claimed they were in the middle of a line change and so the door was open legally. Bingley later took a slash to the back of the head that knocked him down for several moments; again, with no penalty called.
At one point in the third quarter, both penalty boxes were full with players on both teams serving everything from slashing to illegal cross checking to unsportsmanlike conduct penalties as tensions on the floor rose.
Oshawa scored first in the third quarter but Peterborough responded; the teams traded foals three more times before Woods’ fifth of the game put the Timbermen up 10-9 heading to the final frame. Joel Wright highlighted the quarter for the Timbermen when he dove over the crease to score.
Woods, who earlier had been the target of some good-natured ribbing from Wright for missing a dunk attempt, was impressed: “That’s better than anything I could do. That was a nice goal, I’ll give him that one.”
Unfortunately, Woods was unable to find the back of the net again for a sock trick.
“The game got tight and there was a lot less room to move out there so goals were harder to come by in the second half,” he said.
Woods finished second in Arena Lacrosse League scoring with 61 points, behind Oshawa’s John St. John with 63. Woods finished first in goals with 36, while adding 25 assists. In 36 career games, he has 185 points (102G/83A).
“I want to celebrate the little things,” said Timbermen head coach Joe Sullivan. “Woods has put in the time and effort and he’s a guy that goes unnoticed by the NLL and MSL. I don’t know how that happens but hopefully his play this season will help him project himself into where he wants to be.”
Oshawa scored three goals in three minutes to open the fourth and take a 12-10 lead. Mitchell Geoffroy and Hartley, with his second of the game, scored 29 seconds apart to tie it at 12. After Hartley’s goal the Timbermen were buzzing and smelled blood in the water, but the mandated official’s timeout promptly killed any subsequent momentum.
Josh Gilray scored the winner with 6:39 left to play.
Oshawa took two late-game penalties but the Timbermen were unable to capitalize on either man advantage.
Will Johnston suffered the loss in goal but played very well throughout.
Though it was a loss, Sullivan wasn’t taking it too hard.
“And the end of the day, everybody makes the playoffs,” he said. “Today was about coming together as a team and battling, and the guys battled together and sometimes that’s the best team building you could do.”
Sullivan was thrilled to see the crowds pack the arena.
“For the first time since Covid we’ve been able to open the doors and enjoy the Millbrook Arena. I couldn’t be more excited about where this could go. There were a couple hundred fans here that were entertained with a one-goal lacrosse game. We had a lot of families out today. It was a good physical game and lots of scoring; we couldn’t be happier with the crowd.”
It was Fan Appreciation Day at Millbrook Arena, with the Timbermen honouring their fans in several ways. Kids who played on the floor at halftime each received a treat from the snack bar. Haylee Jacco won a pair of 2023 season tickets. The team saluted their fans after the game, and then held a meet-and-greet on the floor with many kids coming by for autographs.
The Timbermen will face the same Outlaws this coming Sunday, April 10th at Brampton’s Memorial Arena in a single-elimination quarterfinal matchup. The winner will head to the ILA the following weekend for the final four. In their prior meeting this season, the Timbermen beat the Outlaws 10-8.
