Mark Stehlin
Jun 9, 2025
It’s been a great run for the Merchants as their silver anniversary season continues to shine. The team has been displaying dominant performances on their way to hosting the Presidents Cup in August. Their plan has been to go in to the tournament as Ontario champions, a goal this club set out from the first day of training camp.
This weekend brought more success as a pair of wins over the Hamilton Bengals improved their record to 9-1 good for top spot in the standings. The teams met Saturday in Whitby and the game ended in a 9-6 final in favour of the Merchants. The Bengals played hosts on Sunday evening and it was another win for Brooklin this time 9-2.
“It was a statement weekend for us, we wanted to put the league on notice and to beat a contender like the Bengals was pivotal to our season success,” said head coach Ryan Degerdon.
“We treated this as a six-period game, facing Hamilton twice, and we told the guys we would reset after each period to ensure we were on the right track, “ added coach Mark Debrone.
It looked early like it may turn out to be a tight game. The Merchants took a tender 1-0 lead into the first break.
The second period would be the difference on this night as the Merchants exited the break and proceeded to rattle off five straight to run away with it. The Bengals faced some penalty trouble and the visitors pounced on their opportunities with two power play goals in that frame. Local product, Will MacLeod, playing in front of family and friends scored twice that period and twice in the third for a four-goal performance on the night. Score after two periods was 6-1 in favour of the Merchants. It took the Bengals almost two full periods to solve Deacan Knott in the Merchants net when Tye Argent got their first goal with one second remaining on the clock in that second period.
MacLeod started the final period with his third just over a minute in and the Merchants dominated by a scored of 3-1 en route to a 9-2 final to seal the perfect weekend.
“Our expectations are only to going to get higher and higher and tonight we saw a fluid display by the defense and the offense was moving the ball the way we like,” added Degerdon.
The Merchants are now off until Saturday June 28 at 4 pm when they host the Six Nations Rivermen at Iroquois Park Sports Centre. This is part of a double-header that sees the Brooklin Lacrosse Club host the Six Nations Chiefs at 8 pm for their annual Scott McMichael Minor Lacrosse Night.
Scoring – P Pipher (1,4) Miller (1,1) Murphy (1,0) D Pipher (0,3) McCrory (0,1) MacLeod (4,0) Carrigan (1,3) Beyo (1,0) Renaud (0,1)
Note – the Brooklin Merchants would like to wish a speedy recovery to Joey Cupido of the Bengals who left the game with what appeared to be a serious leg injury.