August 3rd, 2016

PETERBOROUGH, ON - The fourth seeded Oakville Rock faced a daunting task Tuesday as they headed to Peterborough to take on the top seeded Lakers in game 1 of their best-of-seven playoff series. Playing in front of the biggest crowd around the Major Series Lacrosse can be difficult on any night during the summer, but this night happened to be the night the Lakers were honouring John Grant Jr. and raising his number to the rafters, as he enters his final swan song with the club.

It was fitting that Grant Jr would open the scoring just over three minutes in as his shot deflected off of Rock goalie Nick Rose and dribbled over the goal line. Wesley Berg would tie it up for the Rock, but the Lakers would add two more before the end of the first period. Brad Self scoring on a breakaway and Corey Vitarelli on a pass from Josh Currier.

The two teams would trade goals in the second. The Lakers jumped out to a 4-1 lead on Grant Jr's second of the night, but Rock defender Glen Bryan made it 4-2 just 11 seconds later. The Rock would pull within 1 after Jeremy Noble ripped home his first of the playoffs. That was as close as the Rock would get though in this one. Vitarelli added his second of the night before the end of the frame and the Lakers were up 5-3.

Goaltenders Nick Rose and Evan Kirk continued to turn away shots in the third, but some Rock miscues lead to three late Peterborough goals. John Grant Jr. completed his hat trick into an empty net with just over 5 minutes remaining to give the Lakers an 8-3 lead and that is how it would end.

"It's kind of a sinking feeling," said Rock Coach Matt Sawyer. "You look at the final score and it's not really indicative of how the game was, it was really tight for a lot of the game. With that being said, they wanted it more tonight. We need to take that next step."

Games 2 and 3 will be played in Oakville. on Friday, August 5th and Monday, August 8th both at 8:00 PM at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre. General Admission for Oakville Rock playoff games is $10 for Seniors/Students $15 for Adults.

Round 1 full schedule:

Game 1: Oakville 3 @ Peterborough 8
Game 2: Peterborough @ Oakville Friday, August 5th 8:00 PM @ TRAC
Game 3: Peterborough @ Oakville Monday, August 8th 8:00 PM @ TRAC
Game 4: Oakville @ Peterborough Thursday, August 11th 8:00 PM @ Memorial Centre
*Game 5: Oakville @ Peterborough Saturday August 13th 7:30 PM @ Memorial Centre
*Game 6: Peterbrough @ Oakville Monday August 15th 8:00 PM @ TRAC
*Game 7: Oakvile @Peterborough Thursday August 18th 8:00 PM @ Memorial Centre

*If Necessary

Lakers Lead Best-Of-7 Series 1-0