After being stormed out on Friday, the Huron Perth Lakers AAA Major Bantams started the 2nd round of the Alliance Pavilion playdowns on Saturday against Kitchener.
Kitchener opened the scoring, but quickly found themselves on the wrong end of a scoring spree that saw the Lakers pump in 5 unanswered goals to take the opening game by a score of 5-1. Jackson Martin (Listowel) drew the Lakers even with Dylan Lazarus (Woodstock) grabbing the assist. Just over a minute later, Garrett Meurs (Ripley) put the Lakers in front with Jordan Currie (Seaforth ) & David Dalby (Stratford) finding the scoresheet with the helpers. Mac Nichol scored a shorthanded marker to give the Lakers a 3-1 lead going into the 3rd with Lazarus earning another assist. In the final period, the Lakers power play unit saw a lot of ice as Kitchener lost its composure. Derek Cowing (Innerkip) found the back of the net with Nichol assisting for a power play goal & less then a minute later, Meurs scored his 2nd of the night on the power play with Cowing & Nichol assisting. Jake Partridge (Exeter) was outstanding between the pipes turning aside 17 of 18 shots.
On Sunday, the Lakers took a 2 game lead in the Best of 5 series with another solid performance that saw the power play unit once again take centre stage. Dalby opened the scoring midway through the opening period with Meurs & Nik McIver (Stratford) assisting. Cowing put the Lakers up 2-0 with Nichol & Meurs playing tic-tac-toe while on the power play. After a scoreless middle frame, Lazarus notched another Lakers power play goal with Cowing assisting to give the Host team a controlling 3-0 lead. Kitchener, focused more on the penalty box door then the net, finally solved Brett O'Drowsky (St Marys) to break the shutout bid with just over a minute to go. O'Drowsky came up large just seconds earlier, snatching a sure goal away from the Rangers. Ryan Chambers (Teeswater) rounded out the scoring with an empty net goal to give the Lakers a 4-1 victory.
Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday night at the Goderich MRC with a 7 p.m. start time.