Captain Robert Hope saw glimpses of greatness in the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers on Thursday night, but a critical mistake in the final minute of play cost his team greatly, as they fell 13-12 to the Oakville Rock. “We made too many mistakes at inopportune times [and they capitalized on them],” Hope said. “We were a little sloppy early; defensively, just throwing balls away, giving up too many opportunities, not shots that Hutchy wanted to see. Offensively, I thought we scored enough, we just have to be better on transition and defence coming back through that way.” A miscalculated pass gave Oakville defender Jake Darlison a breakaway and he scored with 32 seconds left for the one-goal win. The teams had matched each other goal for goal through the first half, tying six times until Oakville’s five-goal run gave them a 10-6 lead in the second. The Lakers did settle down quickly and went on a six-goal run of their own over the end of the second and start of the third periods. They led 12-10 lead but gave up two goals within 44 seconds and couldn’t take the lead back before Darlison’s goal. Brad McCulley had a solid shot with five seconds left but was stymied by former Laker Landon Kells, who didn’t give up a goal after coming on in relief of Evan Constantopolous. Drew Hutchison allowed 10 before Nick Rose, who held Oakville scoreless for over 20 minutes, replaced him. With four games remaining, the Lakers sit tied for fourth place in the MSL standings with Brooklin, on which they have the tiebreaker plus a game in hand. They are four points behind third-place Cobourg and six points behind Oakville. Playoffs are a world away, yet they are on everyone’s mind. “When you start playing (at the beginning of the year) you start thinking about playoffs. That’s your first checkmark is to get into playoffs and finish as high as you can,” said Hope. “Then you know your matchup, get out of the first round, second round and get to the Mann Cup. That’s your ultimate goal. We have to have a killer mentality here for the next four. I thought we’ve gotten better each one but we still are committing the same mistakes.” The Cobourg Kodiaks visit the PMC next Thursday, July 23. The season series between the teams is tied 1-1 so the game is critical in providing a potential tiebreaker for playoff positioning. “We just have to make sure we win the next game and it’s an important one because it does have playoff implications,” said head coach Mike Hasen. “Every game is a playoff game here for us moving forward but it’s a focus on Cobourg and making sure we’re at our best for that one.” Next Thursday is the long-awaited Retro Night honouring the 1986 Jr. A Peterborough Maulers, with throwback jerseys, a soundtrack of 80s and 90s hits and the return of Toonie Dogs. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster online or at the box office. Of Note - Attendance was 2,511 - Peterborough fired 48 shots on goal while Oakville let go of 55 - Matt Gilray was 14/29 on faceoffs while the Rock were 15/29 - Peterborough was 0/1 on the power play but did score one shorthanded, and Oakville was 1/3 - Jake Withers served the first of a two-game suspension, and Deacan Knott the first of four after both were involved in fights against Owen Sound last week - The Lakers welcomed Colton Armitage (#94), who played five games as a call-up earlier in the season, as a full-time Laker on Thursday. The 22-year-old St. Catharines’ native led the team with a hat trick and two assists. Full Lakers Scoring Colton Armitage 3-2 Braedon Saris 2-3 Daniel Clark 2-0 Rob Hellyer 1-5 Ryan Lanchbury 1-4 Holden Cattoni 1-0 Liam Patten 1-0 Dylan Hutchison 1-0 Justin Sykes 0-2 Brad McCulley 0-2 Holden Lowes 0-1 Colton Armstrong 0-1 PHOTOS BY DAVID PICKERING @picks_pics