Joe Sullivan found no positives in the Peterborough Timbermen’s 15-9 loss to the Oshawa Outlaws on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops their record to 2-2 while the Outlaws remain unbeaten at 3-0. The Timbermen’s two losses have come at the hands of the defending ALL champions.
The Timbermen were shorthanded with just 17 of 18 allowed runners. The game was meant to be played on Friday night but was postponed due to the threat of dangerous weather in southern Ontario.
Due to the reschedule, the Timbermen were without top scorer Joel Matthews and other offensive threats like Chris Attwood and Joe Hall. Riley Campbell arrived late to the game and Kaleb Bingley did not arrive at all after sliding into a ditch on his way to the game.
“We have guys from St. Catharines and Ottawa that aren’t able to get here at the drop of a hat,” a frustrated Sullivan said post-game. “They adjusted their schedules to get here for Friday and weren’t able to get here for Saturday so we’re out the league-leading scorer… It’s very unfortunate because we wanted to play [Oshawa] and push for first place and now we’re on the outside looking in.”
The Outlaws were in control early until Mark Vradenburg’s natural hat-trick tied the game at five in the second quarter. Dan Michel gave the Timbermen a brief lead at 6-5 but some sloppy play saw the Timbermen down 12-8 by the end of the third. Frustration at some questionable calls, included an obvious missed high-stick on Vradenburg, caused tempers to boil over. Riley Morgan fought Nick Chaykowski towards the end of the frame.
Vradenburg’s 13 points coming into the game was tied with Matthews for the team scoring lead, although 12 of his points were assists. He’s shown how adept he is at reading which of his teammates are open.
“When the guys are making a little bit of room for me and vice versa, you get those open looks,” Vradenburg explained. “We needed to put the ball in the net a little more tonight but it was good to get a couple goals in after the first couple games.”
Kevin Croswell was lifted in favour of Ryan Masters in the fourth quarter.
“We still have to come prepared to matter who’s here or what jersey we’re wearing,” Vradenburg said. “We had a lot of compete level for portions of the game but we have to put together 60 minutes, that’s what it comes down to and it was reflected in the score.”
Special teams were heavily showcased. The Timbermen scored once on the power play and twice shorthanded, while the Outlaws scored twice on the power play and picked up three shorty’s.
Darryl Robertson (2G/3A) and Gage Board (1G/4A) each had five points for the Outlaws. Scotty Komer picked up the win in goal.
The Timbermen will look to rebound against the Six Nations Snipers next Saturday at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Ohsweken.
Scoring for the Timbermen:
Mark Vradenburg (3-0)
Nick Karam (2-1)
Cam Garlin (2-0)
Brodie Tutton (1-1)
Dan Michel (1-1)
Justin Kulla (0-3)
Doug Utting (0-2)
Fred Hartley (0-2)
Zack Thompson (0-1)
Joe Wasson (0-1)
