(June 15, 2012)… Joe Walters used a career-high nine points to lead the Brampton Excelsiors to an 11-10 victory over the Ajax Rock last night at the Powerade Centre.

The Rochester Knighthawks forward has 11 points (2+9) in two games since rejoining the team after winning the National Lacrosse League Champion’s Cup. It was a breakout game for the 27-year-old.

“It feels good. It took a game to get comfortable playing with Brampton again,” said Walters. “The game reminded me of the Knighthawks’ season where we fought and clawed back. We have great leaders in Dan Dawson and Mike Kirk that kept us level headed and we took it one goal at a time.”

With the victory, Brampton (3-1-0) moved into a first-place tie with the Peterborough Lakers. Ajax fell to 0-6-0 with another close loss, despite opening the game with four straight goals and holding a late 9-8 lead.

Walters orchestrated the comeback, setting up two Excelsiors’ goals in the first period. He connected with Joe Resetarits to get Brampton its first goal of the contest at 8:38. He then fed Kyle Perreira at 12:51 and it was 4-2 after one.

In the second, Walters continued to lead the Excelsiors closer to a win by assisting on the first two Brampton goals. His third assist of the game made it 4-3 and his fourth assist made it 6-4, which ended a 2-0 Ajax run. The Excels got back within a goal when Walters beat Tyler Carlson at 11:40 to trim the deficit to 7-6.
The Rock, however, were determined to win their first of the season against the defending champs. Ajax ended the second with a goal by Jesse Guerin at 14:16 to regain a two-goal lead, 8-6. That set the stage for a wild third period.

After the teams traded goals early in the third, Brampton mounted its comeback. Resetarits cut the deficit to one at 7:17. The connection of Knighthawk Dylan Evans to Kirk tied the game at eight just 32 seconds later. It was Evans’ third goal of the season. Ajax was able to recapture the lead on Davis’ third of the game at 8:22. This would signify the final goal of the game for the Rock as Knighthawks goalie Jake Henhawk made eight saves in the third to finish the contest with a total 21 saves.

Brampton evened the game at 10 on an unassisted goal by Walters at 11:04. He picked up a loose ball, drove to the net and beat Carlson short side. Dawson (2+1) then won it at 19:06 with Walters and Joe Resetarits earning assists on the game-winner.