Lakers Battle Hard vs. Top Teams
On Jan 12th the Lakers hosted the 1st place London Knights and played a solid game but could not seem to come up with the big plays when needed. Penalties against the Lakers took their toll as the Knights capitalized many times. Nick Jung and Ryley Cribbin each scored once with Chayse Herrfort assisting on each goal. Brandan Bean took the loss in net for the Lakers with the final score ending up 4-2.
On Jan 15th the Lakers beat 2nd place Elgin-Middlesex for the 1st time this year by a score of 6-5. The Lakers saw 5 different goal scorers on the game sheet which is starting to show a vast improvement with teamwork. Tied at 3-3 half way through the 3rd period, the Lakers had a weak moment and found themselves trailing 5-3 with 7 minutes to play. After an Elgin player received a 5 minute penalty, the Lakers scored 3 times on the powerplay to achieve the come from behind win. Wyatt Nicholson got the win in net for the Lakers.
On Jan. 19th, the Lakers travelled to London for a rematch and again played well enough to win but came out on the short end of the stick losing by a score of 6-4. Going into the 3rd period the game was tied at 3-3, but tired legs seemed to hamper the Laker's effort and London capitalized on the power play once again. The Laker's strong forecheck actually had the Knights scrambling at times but the Lakers just couldn't find the net when they needed to most. Branden Bean played well in goal taking the loss for the Lakers.