BRAMPTON, ON (June 16, 2024) — An eight-goal third period was the difference for the Toronto Beaches on Sunday evening, as they erased a two-goal third-period deficit to defeat the Brampton Excelsiors 14-8 at Memorial Arena.
The offensive trio of Willem Firth, Greg Palmer, and Matt Collison were massive again for the Beaches in the victory, finishing with seven points apiece on the night. Collison had a team-high four goals while Palmer posted six assists.
Thomas Kiazyk earned his 10th win on the campaign with a 25-save performance while blanking the Excelsiors in the final 26 minutes of play.
Despite the final score, it was a tough opening 40 minutes for the Beaches, who had to grind out opportunities against a hungry Brampton squad. The hosts came out of the gates hot, scoring the first two goals of the night. Bowie Horsman had both tallies, putting the Beaches in an early hole. Firth got his first of the night on the power play. But just over two minutes later, Dante Bowen answered with a juice goal for Brampton in transition.
Palmer got his lone goal for the game at the 5:48 mark of the first, but the Excelsiors came back with goals from Jacob Janke and Phoenix Pullen to make it 5-2. Toronto pulled it closer to end the frame, with AJ Nikolic nabbing his first career OJLL goal and Firth adding another power-play marker to make it 5-4 Brampton after 20 minutes.
The goals were slightly harder to come by in the second period, but Brampton still was able to outscore the Beaches 3-2. Erich Acton and Nolan Byrne got the first two of the period before Collison scored his first for Toronto. Tye Scott and Collison traded goals to end the second, giving Brampton an 8-6 advantage heading into the third.
To open the third, the Beaches used their transition game to flip the momentum in their favour. Liam MacLeod found himself in alone on Connor O’Toole, and the defender buried his first OJLL goal on a great individual effort. Just over a minute later, MacLeod was sprung again on a partial breakaway, and despite a Brampton pursuer getting to his hands, he was able to power a twister home on the crease to tie the game at eight.
Collison would get his hands free and fire a shot that clipped O’Toole’s sleeve and crept over the line to give Toronto its first lead of the game with 14:06 to play. From there, Kiazyk and the Beaches’ defence locked things down while the offence continued to go to work. Firth got his hat trick on the next marker, and Collison and Hunter Lubiniecki got the Beach their insurance goals heading into the final stretch of regulation.
Brampton landed in the box for the final minutes of the game, and Toronto put any doubt of the final score to bed with goals by Peyton Booth and Sheldon Broughton — who potted his first career Junior A goal with 27 seconds left. After taking the floor for the third down by two, the Beaches left it with a 14-8 victory to capture their 11th straight win.
Now sitting at 11-0 for the year, the Beaches are right back in action on Tuesday night, when they head to Kinsmen Arena for their second matchup in a week against the K-W Lacrosse Club. Face-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET.