Arena Lacrosse League action kicked off on Saturday afternoon with the Peterborough Timbermen falling to the Paris RiverWolves 14-12 at Millbrook Arena in front of about 150 fans.
Trailing 8-4 at halftime, the Timbermen clawed their way back to tie the game 9-9 in the third period. Fred Hartley’s third goal of the period was the equalizer. Paris got one back with six seconds left in the quarter for a 10-9 lead.
The RiverWolves increased their lead to 12-9 on a pair of power play goals in the fourth. Cole Hanrahan and Blaze White responded but Paris found the back of the net twice more to keep their lead. Cameron Simpson closed the gap but Paris held the Timbermen off the board for the final 1:53.
“It’s the first time we’ve had a lot of guys at that level come together and play,” said head coach and general manager Joe Sullivan after the game. “They haven’t seen each other a lot, it was their first time on the floor today. A little bit of that showed early on but we battled back, which I love to see. We had the depth to actually make a difference. Even when we were down by a couple towards the end I knew we still had a good opportunity. You bring in a lot of veteran players, you bring Brine Rice back, you bring Tyler Armstrong. These guys all bring so much. They give you the depth you need. I look for us do a lot of good things this year.”
Peterborough’s Nathan Schultzkie scored 28 seconds into the first quarter. Paris took a 3-1 lead before goals from Brine Rice and Jake Gasperetti evened the score.
Paris rattled off five goals in the first half of the second quarter to lead 8-3 before Riley Curtis popped in a power play goal before halftime.
The Timbermen got back a number of players from the defunct start-up PBLA league this season, including captain Brine Rice, a skilled two-way player, and veteran scorer Fred Hartley. With the veteran presence coming back to the lineup, the team expects a better showing than last year’s 1-13 record.
Doubled up on at halftime, there was no panic on the bench.
“You get that because you have such a veteran group now,” Sullivan said. “The young guys that we’ve mixed in are fantastic and they’re learning each and every time out on the floor. They’ve been through all these scenarios so they’re not going to fold; they’re not going to buckle. A couple of goals to this offense is not going to be a big deal. They can finish that.”
Paris was led by Luke Robinson’s four goals and three assists and Kurtis Woodland’s three goals and two assists. Chase Cosgrove got the win in goal.
Veteran Ethan Woods went the distance in goal for Peterborough.
The Timbermen visit the Oshawa Outlaws at Children’s Arena next Saturday afternoon, before returning home on Saturday, December 23 to host the Whitby Steelhawks at 2 p.m. at Millbrook Arena.
TIMBERMEN SCORING:
Fred Hartley (3-0)
Brine Rice (2-3)
Riley Curtis (1-5)
Blaze White (1-3)
Cameron Simpson (1-2)
Nathan Schultzkie (1-1)
Cole Hanrahan (1-0)
Spencer Corkery (1-0)
Jake Gasperetti (1-0)
Jared Downey (0-2)
Ben Doherty (0-1)
Kaleb Bingley (0-1)
Oran Horn (0-1)
