While there's no debating the Nipissing Lakers lacrosse team is disappointed with the results of a road trip to Peterborough, they can at least be proud of their effort.
The Lakers dropped a pair of games on the road to the Trent Excalibur, the top ranked team in CUFLA, losing 18-11 Saturday and 14-8 Sunday.
Saturday, Nipissing was led by
Nick Chaykowsky, who scored four goals and added two assists.
Alex DeGagne posted a hat-trick,
Scott Dominey added one goal and three assists and
Doug Utting continued his strong play, scoring a pair and adding one helper in a losing cause.
The Lakers got off to a bit of a slow start, trailing 5-2 after the first quarter.
The team answered back in a second, scoring five goals, however, they weren't able to close the gap.
Down 10-7 at the half, Trent extended their lead in the third and took a four goal advantage into the final quarter.
Despite putting on some pressure and attacking, Nipissing wasn't able to close the gap and Trent extended their lead by three to walk away with the victory.
Sunday's game was almost an exact copy of Saturday, just lower scoring.
Trent jumped out to a 5-2 lead after the first quarter, which had them in control for much of the game.
Nipissing responded in the second, scoring three goals, but once again, Trent managed to keep pace and hold on to their advantage.
Despite being down just three at halftime, Nipissing ran out of gas in the second half.
The Excalibur outscored the Lakers 6-3 in the final two quarters, sealing their victory and completing the sweep.
Utting scored four goals to pace the Lakers, while Dominey and Chaykowsky each added two goals apiece.
The Lakers return home for their next two games, one this weekend versus Carleton and their final home game is scheduled for Oct. 14 against Ottawa.
Carleton is just 1-7 on the season and two points behind the Lakers in the standings.
Ottawa is 3-4 and two points ahead of Nipissing and currently in fourth place in the division and in the middle of a log-jam in the CUFLA East Division.
Four points separates seventh place from third in the division, so with a strong finish in the final four games, the Lakers can make a big jump up the standings.
Following the next two weekends of single home games, Nipissing will travel to Bishops to close out the regular season.
