PICKERING, ON (May 25, 2023) — The Toronto Beaches got back into the win column on Thursday night, coming back from a five-goal hole to beat the Brampton Excelsiors 12-10 at Pickering Rec Centre.
Willem Firth paced the Beaches with a career-best six-goal night to go along with four helpers. Not to be outdone, Greg Palmer had two goals of his own and eight points. Andrew Kidd was a rock in net again for the Beaches, capturing his second win of the summer with a 53-save performance.
The game got off on the wrong foot for the hosts, as back-to-back markers from Erich Acton and Bowie Horsman put Brampton up early, and despite Firth nabbing his first of the night to get Toronto within one, Horsman added his second to give the Excelsiors a 4-1 advantage after 40 minutes.
Brampton continued to add on from there with goals from Eric Ward and Dante Kulas, making it 6-1 just over a minute and a half into the second frame.
The Beaches started to chip away at the lead after that. Firth completed the hat trick with two consecutive goals before Palmer added his first. But once again, Brampton had an answer in the form of goals from Ethan Harkins and Kulas.
However, Toronto swung the momentum in their favour for good to end the second. Zach Miller and Firth got those two tallies back on the Power Play, and after a Jacob Hickey goal, Firth got in tight and buried his fifth on Connor O’Toole with just two seconds left in the period to give the Beaches their first lead of the evening.
With an 8-7 lead and 20 minutes to play, the Beaches pushed for more coming out for the third. Firth completed the Sock Trick at the 16:09 mark. Palmer got his second and Peyton Booth got his sixth of the season to make it 11-7. Brampton got a trio of goals in the late stages, but an insurance marker from Hamish McPherson sealed the victory for Toronto.
With the victory, the Beaches move to 2-3 on the year. Currently sitting in the fifth seed in the OJLL, the team will be off until Jun 1, when they’ll return to action against the Six Nations Arrows at Scarborough Centennial Arena. Ball drop is set for 8:00 p.m. ET.