SIX NATIONS, ON (June 26, 2024) – The Toronto Beaches dropped a heartbreaker in overtime to the Six Nations Arrows, losing 12-11 at Iroquois Lacrosse Arena on Wednesday night.
Will Sheehan and Willem Firth both tallied six points each in the loss, leading the Beaches offence. Matt Collison trailed close behind with four points.
Less than two minutes after the opening face-off, Goaltender Thomas Kiazyk found Firth who made a handful of moves on top of the crease and beat Arrows goalie Saka Thompson for a shorthanded tally. The game would go scoreless for eight minutes before Noah Synder of the Arrows took advantage of the power-play. Matthew Hamill scores, making it a 2-1 lead for Six Nations.
Collision responded three minutes later after a successful passing play found him open for the shot. Sheehan got his first of the game at the 3:30 mark with a low shot to put the Beaches back ahead.
Toronto would head into the first intermission leading the Arrows by one, by a score of 3-2.
Firth followed his first-period performance making the first splash of the second with a transition goal for his second of the game. Arrows would fire back with a trickling shot from Daylin John-Hill before Sheehan and Greg Palmer each grabbed a goal within 40 seconds, building the Beaches’ lead to three. Six Nations answered accordingly with two of their own, Shakorennawis Swamp netting one and McCay Jimerson netting the other on the power play.
However, Toronto turned on the jets with a five-goal run in five minutes – three of which put in on the power play. Firth continued his strong play while Sheehan and Collison each chipped in a pair of markers. Synder closed out the period with a goal on the man advantage.
An 11-6 score favoured the Beaches heading into the final 20 minutes.
Arrows ink the scoresheet first in the third at the 16:53 mark with Braley Abrams getting the final touch. A minute and a half later, Joe Squire doubles down for the Arrows, cutting the Beaches’ lead to three. John-Hill and Blayze Becker both notched one within three minutes of each other, making it a one-goal lacrosse game.
A dwindling one-goal lead held by the Beaches gets crushed at the 2:50 mark by Jimerson to tie the game at 11 apiece.
Five unanswered goals in the third period see the Arrows force overtime against the Beaches, with a comeback on the horizon.
A short two-and-a-half minutes into the overtime period, Hamill completed the comeback with a bouncer that found the twine.
A heartbreaking loss saw the Beaches get served their second loss of the season, as well as their second in a row.
The Beaches head back to Ted Reeve Arena Thursday night looking for a bounce-back game against the Peterborough Lakers. The opening face-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET.