July 30th, 2015

BRAMPTON, ON - The Oakville Rock had a simple mission Thursday night in Brampton. Win and we're in. For a team who has had little to no success in Major Series Lacrosse, that mission could have seemed like a daunting task. 

After Mike Burke opened the scoring for Brampton, Brett Hickey and Stephan Leblanc scored two goals to give the Rock the lead. Brady Heseltine tied things up for Brampton, but Leblanc added his second of the game to give the Rock a 3-2 lead after the first period.

Ian Mackay scored his first MSL goal on a breakaway 2 minutes into the second period, Leblanc completed the hat trick and the Rock and Excelsiors would trade goals, Oakville holding a 7-5 edge after 2 periods.

It was hot and humid at Brampton's Memorial Arena and after cooling down in the second intermission, the Rock caught fire as Wes Berg, Leblanc, Hickey and Brenden Thenhaus fired four straight goals within the first 11 minutes chasing Brampton goaltender Tyler Carlson in the process. Nick Rose who played outstanding, surrendered a few late goals to Mike Mawdsley and Sandy Chapman, but it was too late of a charge for the Excelsiors, who would lose 11-7.

The win moved Oakville ahead of Brampton in the standings to third overall and ultimately eliminated the Brooklin Redmen from playoff contention. It's the first time in the franchise's history (the Ajax-Pickering Rock prior to the summer of 2013), that they have made the Major Series Lacrosse playoffs and the first time they have posted 7 wins in a season. It's a pretty amazing feat when you consider the Rock started off the season 0-7, before a coaching change. Head coach Matt Sawyer deserves a lot of the credit for the teams turnaround, as they went 7-4 the rest of the way.

The Rock will now take on the number two seeded Peterborough Lakers, who finished with a 14-4 record and beat Oakville in all 4 contests this season. Game 1 of the series will be played in Peterborough, Sunday, August 2nd game time TBD. The remainder of the series dates and times are still being finalized and will be updated shortly.