LANGLEY, B.C. – Dan Dawson didn’t know if he would make it to Game 2 of the Mann Cup lacrosse championship.
After arriving less than an hour before game time following a flight from Toronto, Dawson was dominant with five assists as the Brampton Excelsiors beat the Langley Thunder 9-4 and evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1 on Thursday night.
“It was a 4 1/2-hour flight,” said Dawson. “I tried to get the (jet lag) out of my system as best I could. But this one, it worked out great. I worked the day shift today at work and I made the flight just in time – the last flight that would have got me in here for game time, so everything worked to plan.”
The Excelsiors, seeking their third Mann Cup in four years, made up for a humiliating 11-3 setback to first-time Western representative Langley in Game 1.
Brampton No. 1 goaltender Anthony Cosmo also stood out, recording 38 saves, after he had missed the first game, due to teaching duties and arrived Thursday morning.
“He’s outstanding,” said Dawson. “He’s the reason why we won the East and he’s the reason why we’re here. We’re going to ride him as far as he’ll take us.”
The score was tied 1-1 after the first period, but the Excelsiors held a commanding 7-2 lead after the second.
Cosmo’s return set an interesting goaltenders’ battle. The 33-year-old Mississauga, Ont., native is a three-time NLL all-star as well as a former NLL goaltender of the year. On the other hand, Langley’s starter, Brodie MacDonald, 21, is in his first Senior A season.
MacDonald had shut out Brampton in the final 53 minutes Wednesday. But Cosmo outperformed him while both clubs recorded 42 shots.
“(Dawson and Cosmo) give confidence to our younger guys,” said Brampton coach Mike Hasen. “It’s what we expect of them every night.”
After giving up an early goal, Cosmo made several timely saves to limit Langley’s advantage to 1-0 before Dawson set up Jarrett Davis for the first of his two goals to draw Brampton even at 18:47 of the first period.
In the second period, Dawson created traffic on Brampton’s first two goals of the frame, including a devastating short-handed marker by Kevin Ross, his first of two goals on the night, putting the Excelsiors ahead 3-1.
After Dawson set up Jarrett Davis for his second goal of the game, which give the Excelsiors a 6-2 advantage, Langley goaltender MacDonald was pulled in favour of Andrew Leyshon.
However, John McLure put in another Dawson pass a minute and 14 seconds later and MacDonald returned to the net.
Joe Walters also scored twice for Brampton while Frank Resetarits, John McLure and Zack Greer supplied single markers.
Jamie Lincoln led the hosts with two goals while Pat Saunders and Kerry Shusheski also tallied.
“We just had a balanced attack tonight,” said Dawson. “We had everyone scoring. That’s how we’re going to win games.”
NOTES: Bill Greer was also among Brampton’s returnees. Cosmo, Greer, and Dawson all helped Brampton to the 2009 Mann Cup title over the New Westminster Salmonbellies in the B.C. capital. … The Langley squad that won the Canadian Little League championship and represented Canada at the Little League World Series was saluted during the second-period intermission.
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