Heading into the prestigious London Green & Gold tournament this past weekend, the Lakers had the opportunity to match up against some of the premier teams in the Province.
On Friday morning, the Lakers opened the tournament against the Ajax-Pickering Raiders (a team that narrowly beat them 1-0 in an Early Bird tournament a few weeks earlier). After seeing the Raiders jump out to a 3-0 lead, the Lakers finally went to work & scored 4 unanswered goals to finish the game & take the win 4-3.
Friday evening, the Lakers met the Halton Hurricanes. The Hurricanes opened the scoring but after an intense 3 periods of hockey the teams settled for a respectable 2-2 tie.
An early morning start on Saturday saw the team take on the Ottawa Jr Senators. The game went back & forth and appeared to be headed towards another tie game but a Senators miscue on a dump-in found the back of the net to give the Lakers the lead. An empty net goal less than a minute later sealed the victory for a 5-3 Lakers win.
Saturday afternoon, the Lakers found themselves up against the Toronto Jr Canadians. Most in attendance predicted a blowout by Toronto but they forgot to tell Huron Perth who were up for the task & played for the full 3 periods. Although dropping the game 3-0, the Lakers proved they can & will compete with the top teams.
The Lakers finished the Round Robin with a 2-1-1 record- Good enough for 4th Overall & earned a trip to the Semi-Finals on Sunday morning where they met the London Jr Knights.
Sunday morning, the teams took to the ice & the second the puck was dropped, the competitive level of both clubs elevated. Taking a 2-1 lead into the 3rd, the Lakers knew they had to keep the pressure on with the Knights only 1 shot away from tying the game. The Lakers built a 2 goal lead heading into the final minutes before an empty net goal confirmed a 4-1 victory that sent them to the Final to meet the York Simcoe Express.
Speed, Agility, passing & pin point accuracy is what makes the Express a great team. Not often do they get rattled or put on the defensive. But after taking a 4-2 lead, the Express seemed to think the Lakers would fold. Not the case! The Lakers pushed forward, looking for the next goal but solid YSE goaltending shut the door on the Lakers snipers allowing the Express to skate to a 5-2 tournament victory.
Congratulation Lakers on a great showing!