PICKERING, ON (June 8, 2023) — On Minor Lacrosse Night at Pickering Rec Complex, it was a Beaches Minor Lacrosse graduate who had a career night to vault the Toronto Beaches to a 15-7 victory over the St. Catharines Athletics on Thursday.
Willem Firth led the way for the Beaches on the night with five goals and 11 points, but Toronto native Matt Collison had the best outing of his junior career to date, scoring six times and finishing the game with seven points. Peyton Booth continued his strong play, scoring a pair to go along with three helpers.
Andrew Kidd got his fourth win of the year with a 34-save performance.
The two teams went back and forth in the opening minutes of play, but it was the Beaches who struck first off a goal from Booth. Gavin Howard answered just over five minutes later to tie the game at one. But Firth pushed the Beach ahead with a goal on top of the crease after working the two-man with captain Jacob Hickey.
Firth and Collison connected on the next Beaches marker, as a quick-stick finish on the back post saw Collison get his first of many on the night. Adam Ponting got one back to make it 3-2, but Collison pushed the lead back to two with 45 seconds left in the opening frame. He tried to get a two-for-one opportunity, but the shot would wind up finding twine.
The Beaches went into the first intermission up by a pair.
Toronto continued their momentum coming out for the second. Zach Miller started it off, and Collison nabbed the hat trick under two minutes in. Firth added his second before Collison struck again for his fourth. Noah Synder ended the six-goal run with one for St. Catharines, but the Beaches bounced right back with another trio of goals.
Once again, it was Firth with a two-goal run and Collison with his fifth off an outside shot. St. Catharines chipped into the lead with back-to-back goals from Keaton Zavitz, but another last-minute goal from Collison cemented the sock trick and a seven-goal lead with 20 minutes to play.
The Beaches finished the game strong, outscoring the Athletics 3-2. Jackson Webster scored the first and last goals of the period for the visitors. But the game was capped by Firth’s fifth of the night, an outside tally from Greg Palmer, and Booth’s second. That cemented the 15-7 final, as the team was able to get back on track in front of their home crowd.
Now sitting at 4-4 on the year, the Beaches have the chance to pick up four points over the weekend with a crucial back-to-back. It starts with the first end of the Crombie Cup against Mimico on the road before a Sunday matchup with Brampton.