The Peterborough Timbermen may have only had 15 runners on Saturday night but they all came to play, taking down the Toronto Monarchs 18-12 at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Arena Lacrosse League action.
With only three games left before the playoffs begin, the Timbermen are sitting in second place with 14 points. The win opened up a four-point lead over the Toronto Monarchs, who the Timbermen have been trading places with all season. However, the Paris RiverWolves, 13-12 OT winners over the Oshawa Outlaws on Saturday night, are now the ones breathing down their necks with 12 points.
While it’s sometimes hard to get players out for a Saturday night game, forward Fred Hartley said the Timbermen have great depth and are well conditioned, meaning those who do play are more than capable of handling the extra minutes.
“We have some great transition players who are able to make an impact on both ends of the floor,” Hartley said.
One of those players is Colton Armstrong, who put up four goals and two assists and leads the Timbermen’s defense with 17 goals and 11 assists. Veteran defensemen Doug Utting, Joe Wasson, Brett Coons and Stephen Bourden held the fort on the back end.
Most of the Timbermen’s offense was on fire Saturday night, with Aaron Woods putting up five goals and four assists, Zack Thompson three goals and five assists, and Tim Bergin chipping in one goal and six helpers.
Hartley, who was named first star of the game, led all players three goals and eight assists for 11 points in the game. Six of those assists came in the second half including four straight in the third quarter. The Timbermen had been trailing 8-7 at halftime but sparked by Hartley’s playmaking, stormed back and led 12-10 after the third.
“We definitely came out flat footed in the first quarter and perhaps you can attribute that to a lot of the boys (including myself from Ottawa) who had to travel a good distance to get here,” Hartley said of the Timbermen’s 4-2 deficit following the first quarter. “Whatever the reason, we bounced back in the second quarter and were able to catch our breath during the halftime break, relax and come out hard to take the lead.”
Aaron Woods’ third and fourth goals of the game kicked off the second half and gave the Timbermen a 9-8 lead. Zack Thompson and Tanner Poole extended that to 11-8. Toronto got back within a goal but Thompson’s second of the quarter gave the Timbermen a two-goal cushion.
The Timbermen scored four in a row to start the fourth which deflated the Monarchs, who were only able to muster two in reply. Goaltender Nick Damude continued his impressive play with another strong second half.
Peterborough’s remaining three games will be a battle for positioning as the league looks ahead to crowning it’s third champion.
The Timbermen think it can be them, this season, as long as they stay focused and confident.
“I think the biggest threat to our success each and every game is ourselves,” Hartley said. “This is a competitive league and any team can beat another team on any given night. It’s a game of mistakes and its won by the team that recovers and/or capitalizes on those mistakes. As a team we’ve been able to do just that and we came out on top tonight.”
The Timbermen host the Monarchs next Saturday afternoon at Children’s Arena at 4 p.m. while the RiverWolves host the Six Nations Snipers later that night.
Scoring for the Timbermen:
Aaron Woods (5-4)
Colton Armstrong (4-2)
Fred Hartley (3-8)
Zack Thompson (3-5)
Tim Bergin (1-6)
Tanner Poole (1-1)
Travis Elvin (1-1)
Joe Wasson (0-2)
