MILLBROOK – The Peterborough Timbermen remain winless in their Arena Lacrosse League season, falling to 0-4 after a 16-10 loss to the Six Nations Snipers on Saturday afternoon at Millbrook Arena.
“We’re not putting together 60 minutes,” said assistant captain Steve Bourden. “When we’re on, we’re as good as anyone else in the league, but it’s the consistency of doing that every shift and that comes from getting to know each other a little better. But that’s a fixable problem.”
Taite Cattoni made his debut for the Timbermen after being acquired from the Oshawa Outlaws in the off season. He had an immediate impact on the offence, scoring four goals and four assists.
“It was good to play again; I haven’t picked up my stick in a month and a half,” Cattoni said. He was on the Albany FireWolves’ injured reserve list prior to Christmas, and was recently moved to their practice roster. “It was good to be out there and sweat a bit. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the win but… we’re going to get better.”
Braeden Smith scored a single goal, and it was Riley Curtis who provided the rest of the offence, with five goals.
Cattoni was happy to come to Peterborough to play with Curtis – his best friend, he said. “He’s a big reason why I decided to come out here and play. He’s a super talented player so it’s nice to have someone like that on the left side working with me and we play so well together.”
Both Cattoni and Curtis, drafted by Rochester in 2021, have NLL aspirations.
“We know that working hard here and getting better together and helping this team win is only going to help our chances to get to the NLL,” Cattoni said.
In four games played, Curtis leads the Timbermen with 11 goals and 12 assists. He’s tied for the third-most goals in the league.
The first half of the game was disjointed, with the Snipers seemingly scoring two goals to every Timbermen goal, killing any chance of building momentum. Cattoni and Curtis each scored a couple of highlight-reel goals, with Cattoni making a crease dive count for his first and then leaping over the crease shorthanded for his second. Curtis caused a turnover at centre floor and got in free on a breakaway just 25 seconds into the second quarter.
Goaltender Steven Walsh and the Timbermen defence settled in for the second half, with the teams playing an 11-minute plus scoreless stretch before a goal was recorded in the third quarter. There was another nine-minute goalless stretch in the fourth.
“I was really happy with the way the ball was rebounding in the second half,” Bourden said. “Walshy dug his heels in great for us in the second half so it was good to see that out of a young goalie. We knew what we could do out there. The 11 goals in the first half wasn’t indicative of how we were playing so we shut the door a bit on the back end. We took some penalties a little bit later, but that comes from trying to be a little bit aggressive when you’re losing a game.”
In fact, the Timbermen only took six minor penalties all game, compared to the 25 in their home opener.
Nolan Fehr led Six Nations with four goals and two assists. Vern Hill and Thunder Hill each scored three times and added three assists. Jaxon Longboat got the win in goal.
Cattoni played five games for Oshawa last season, including two against Peterborough, but he enjoyed being back on the home side, and also said he liked playing at Millbrook Arena.
“I always love playing in small rinks with lots of people because it feels like there are more eyes on you. Nothing beats the Memorial Centre,” he said, referencing the Peterborough Lakers home arena, “but this here, to me, beats larger NLL rinks that [are half empty]. There’s a good atmosphere, the music was loud and I was excited to be here.”
About 150 fans attended the game.
The Timbermen are on the road for the next two weeks, first visiting the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena and the Ohsweken Bears next Sunday, January 22. On Saturday, January 28 they pay a visit to Children’s Arena in Oshawa to face the Oshawa Outlaws. The Timbermen’s next home game is Saturday, February 4 at 2 p.m. at Millbrook Arena vs the Brampton Express. Tickets will be available at the door. To view the Timbermen’s full schedule, visit https://www.peterboroughtimbermen.com/schedule/.
Scoring: Riley Curtis (5-3); Taite Cattoni (4-4); Braeden Smith (1-0); Kaleb Bingley (0-3); Parker Sands (0-2); Aaron Bradshaw (0-2); Ben Doherty (0-1); Bryce Dennis (0-1); Steven Walsh (0-1)
