Brooklin Merchants Use Seven Goal First Period to Sink Belleville Kodiaks

The Belleville Kodiaks (0-1) visited the Brooklin Merchants (2-0) in Ontario Series Lacrosse action Friday evening at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby, Ontario.

The goaltending match-up had Jackson Hainer in net for the Kodiaks facing Ryan Schuetzkowski in net for the Merchants.

The Brooklin Merchants made a statement in dominant fashion Friday night, overwhelming the expansion Belleville Kodiaks 14-5 with an explosive opening period.

Brooklin wasted no time setting the tone, exploding for seven first period goals and never looking back. Landon Sinfield opened the scoring just 29 seconds into the contest before the Merchants continued to pile on with goals from Max Macpherson, Zeke Wills, Griffin Poll, and Owen Wills.

Brooklin’s transition game proved devastating throughout the night, highlighted by multiple long lead pass goals from goaltender Ryan Schuetzkowski. Sinfield capped the opening frame with his second goal of the game in the dying seconds, sending the Merchants into intermission with a commanding 7-0 lead.

The second period brought more of the same as Parker Pipher struck twice to extend the advantage. Belleville finally broke through when Blake Maracle scored the first goal in franchise history on a two-man advantage, converting a feed from Tim Zdimal.

Despite trailing heavily, the Kodiaks continued to battle. Cam Milligan added another late in the second after goals from Halliwell and Wills restored Brooklin’s momentum. After forty minutes, the Merchants led 11-2.

Belleville showed resilience in the third period with goals from Zdimal, Caleb Connell, and Koichi Nakamura during a spirited offensive push. However, Brooklin answered with goals from Tyler McKinnon, Macpherson, and Sinfield to close out the convincing victory.

Sinfield finished with a hat trick for Brooklin, while Macpherson, Poll, Pipher, and Zeke Wills each recorded multi-point performances in the win. For Belleville, the night was highlighted by Maracle’s historic first franchise goal and a determined third-period effort despite the difficult start.

To The Game:

The Merchants wasted no time getting out in front with Landon Sinfield converting a Shane Halliwell feed at 0:29 seconds, followed by Max Macpherson blasting a Jared Norris pass at 3:17.

Zeke Wills then scored in transition off a nice feed from Griffin Poll, followed by Poll himself scoring shorthanded off a long lead pass from Ryan Schuetzkowski at 10:22.  Owen Wills then added an unassisted marker off a broken play to put the Merchants up 5-0 at 13:12.

To add insult to injury, Brooklin would score while down two men.  Griffin Poll finished another long lead pass from goalie Schuetzkowski at 17:35, followed by a late goal from Landon Sinfield with just 0:05 seconds remaining in the period. 

After one period, Brooklin 7 Belleville 0.

Second Period:

Brooklin continued the onslaught in the second with Parker Pipher scoring a pair of goals.  The first was on an unassisted blast at 1:04, followed by a great individual effort from in close off a Quinn Hyland feed at 6:27.

Blake Maracle made history scoring the first goal in Belleville's history on a two man advantage.  Maracle converted a Tim Zdimal pass at 13:02, but Shane Halliwell answered quickly for the Merchants with a low to low laser off a Robbie Baxter pass at 15:51.

Zeke Wills kept Brooklin's momentum up with a sidearm snipe that beat Jackson Hainer to the glove side off a Jared Norris pass pass at 16:19, but Cam Milligan kept fighting for the Kodiaks with a blast off a Koichi Nakamura feed at 17:20.

After two periods, Brooklin 11 Belleville 2.

Third Period:

Brooklin opened the third with Tyler McKinnon converting a Robbie Baxter pass at 1:30, followed by Max Macpherson finishing a Shane Halliwell pass at 6:44.

Belleville kept fighting.   Tim Zdimal scored with a low shot off a Daiki Shimizu pass at 7:50, followed by Caleb Connell with a blast off a Zach Thompson pass at 9:48.  Koichi Nakamura then added an outside goal off a Kieran McKay feed at 12:19.

Landon Sinfield stopped the Kodiaks run with a low to low laser off a Parker Pipher pass at 13:20.

Final score, Brooklin 14 Belleville 5.

The Three Stars:

1. Landon Sinfield 
2. Shane Halliwell 
3. Jared Norris