Jul 21, 2009 - 01:43 PM

By Shawn Cayley

WHITBY -- Those who make the decisions for the Brooklin Redmen understand their team will be in tough as it opens the Major Series Lacrosse playoffs tonight.

Any trip to Peterborough is a tough one, and that's no different in the playoffs.

However, head coach Peter Vipond and general manager Wayne Colley won't count their crew out heading into Game 1 (8 p.m. at the Memorial Centre) against the perennial Mann Cup-contending Lakers.

"We have to work hard. For us to be given a chance, we've got to work. As long as we do, we'll be fine," says Vipond.

Colley, meanwhile, says this is the point where the maturation process for his young team becomes so important.

"It'll be a tough hill, but in order to get to the top you've got to start beating some of the better teams and they are obviously one of the better teams as the defending Mann Cup champions," notes the GM. "We'll have to play it one period at a time, one shift at a time to try and be as good as they are. Hopefully at the end of the game we can steal it."

The Redmen have shown the ability to do just that against the Lakers this season, winning 6-4 on June 10 at Iroquois Park, and playing them tight on two other occasions, most recently July 1 in a 9-7 Peterborough victory.

That Redmen win, however, did come while star Shawn Williams was still in the fold. He picked up a pair of goals and three points in that win, but now wears the colours of the Brampton Excelsiors, leaving Brooklin's hopes in the young hands of Derek Hopcroft, Jason Mainer, Kyle O'Brien and Steve Hutchins, among others, while Mike Miron is expected to carry the load in goal, work schedule permitting.

"All we can do is play as hard as we can and see what happens," Vipond says. "You never know. It's just getting there. Once you get there, you never know."

While the Redmen roster lacks star power, Peterborough, as usual, will hit the floor with its fair share, including Shawn Evans, Tracy Kelusky and Dan Carey, while the wildcard will be John Grant Jr., who recently made his return to the floor following rehab from knee surgery. Grant Jr. played in three regular season games, but recently hurt the area around the same knee that had been operated on and missed the next two games, along with another, which was supposed to be his debut with the Toronto Nationals of the Major League Lacrosse loop. His availability for this series in unknown.