The Bengals Roar Past Brooklin with Dominant First-Period Outburst

By Gary Groob 

The Brooklin Merchants (10-2) faced the Hamilton Bengals (6-6) in Ontario Series Lacrosse action Sunday evening at the Dave Andreychuk Arena in Hamilton, Ontario.

The goaltending match-up had Thomas Kiazyk in net for the Merchants facing Sam Haines in net for the Bengals. 

The Hamilton Bengals put together one of their most complete performances of the season Sunday night, exploding for six first-period goals and never looking back in a convincing 10-5 victory over the Brooklin Merchants at Dave Andreychuk Arena. Curtis Ward led the offensive charge with a four-goal performance, while Zach Terry added three, and Jaden Patterson with a pair as the Bengals improved to 6-6 on the season.

Brooklin pushed back in the middle frame behind two Carter Page goals and controlled the shot clock throughout the game, outshooting Hamilton 39-28. However, Sam Haines came up with several key saves while the Bengals capitalized on their scoring opportunities, building an insurmountable early lead before closing out the victory. Robbie Baxter, Cole Tucker, Broden Shea, and Page accounted for the Merchants' five goals as Brooklin fell to 10-2 despite holding the edge in shots.

To The Game:

The Bengals got on the board first in transition with Jaden Patterson connecting on a dish from Pent Eistrat at 1:19, followed by Curtis Ward with a low laser off an Andy Campbell pass at 11:45.  

Ward then connected again off a Jordan Goddard feed from the side of the net at 12:32, followed by Zach Terry with a blast off an Andy Campbell pass at 15:08.

Pent Eistrat continued the early onslaught with an unassisted tally on a broken play at 18:14, followed by Curtis Ward with his third of the frame grabbing a loose ball, going in all alone at 19:20.

Robbie Baxter finally stopped the bleeding with a Merchants goal off an Elijah Edwards pass from the top of the crease at 19:46.

After one period, Hamilton 6 Brooklin 1.
Shots on goal favored the Merchants 15-12.

Second Period:

Carter Page got the Merchants rolling with back to back tallies to open the second period.  The first was on the power-play with a blast off a Ryan Langille pass at 2:50, followed by a low to low blast off a Zach Miller pass at 5:15.

The Bengals got back on track with Jaden Patterson converting a Curtis Ward pass from the side of the net at 8:40, followed by Ward himself with his fourth of the game off a Dustin Sparks feed at 15:24.

After two periods, Hamilton 8 Brooklin 3.
Shots on goal favored the Merchants 15-8.

Third Period:

Zach Terry opened the third period scoring with a pair of markers.  The first was on the power-play with an outside blast off a Tye Ingram pass at 7:35, followed by a sidearm snipe off a Dustin Sparks feed at 10:51.

Cole Tucker answered for the Merchants with an in close goal off an Adam Perroni feed at 12:56, followed by Broden Shea converting a Jack Oldman pass at 16:39.

Final score, Hamilton 10 Brooklin 5.
Shots on goal favored Brooklin 9-8, for a game total of 39-28 in favor of the Merchants. 

The Three Stars:

1. Curtis Ward 
2. Zach Terry 
3. Sam Haines