Lakers shut out the Canucks in postseason opener

The Huron-Perth U16 AAA Lakers began their quest for the ALLIANCE U16 AAA Championship on Feb. 22 as they hosted the Elgin-Middlesex Canucks in the opening game of their best three-of-five first-round series at the Stratford Rotary Complex.

After a stalemate opening period, which featured both Rylan Da Costa and Tyler Wilkinson sharing goaltending duties for a short time, Callum Brooks opened the scoring for the Lakers with a powerplay goal from Wyatt Finch and Declan McCotter at 5:49 of the second period.

In the third period, the Lakers added insurance with the goal by Evan Miller from Brooks just less than 90 seconds into the final frame. From there, netminder Da Costa and the defence preserved the lead and overcame a double-minor penalty midway through the period to take game one with the score of 2-0.

Lakers head coach Jason Brooks shared his thoughts on the game and Da Costa's performance, also explaining the early-game situation that led him to temporarily switch the two goalies.

“I thought Elgin (Elgin-Middlesex) played a really hard, tough game, and I think we had a little bit of nerves, and I think it showed, but we battled through it and found a way to get it done, and that's what's most important,” Brooks said.

“(Da Costa) came up with the timely saves when we needed them. He slowed the game down, absorbing rebounds and limiting second-chance opportunities, which was huge. I thought Tyler came in when Rylan had the equipment issue. I thought he did a great job, too. That win is totally because of our goaltending. They both played exceptionally.”

Leading scorer Callum Brooks praised the team’s overall performance, highlighting especially the work of the starting netminder, Da Costa.

“Yeah, we played well as a team. We got lots of shots, and eventually they played really well, too, and their goalie was stopping them. But eventually we got our chances, and we buried a couple. With the performance by Rylan today in a defensive game plan, winter, pretty good against Elgin,” Brooks said.

To clarify, the series is a best-of-five format, with the team needing three wins in a maximum of six games to advance.

U16 AAA ALLIANCE quarterfinal schedule (Huron-Perth Lakers vs. Elgin-Middlesex Canucks)

Game one: Elgin-Middlesex 0 Huron-Perth 2

Game two: Feb. 24 at Komoka, 7 p.m.

Game three: Feb. 27 at Stratford Rotary Complex Rink A, 9 p.m.

Game four: Feb. 28 at Komoka, 4:45 p.m., if necessary

Game five: March 1 at Stratford Rotary Complex Rink B, 3:15 p.m., if necessary

Game six: March 2 at Komoka, 7:15 p.m., if necessary

Lakers lead series 1-0