It was an edge-of-your-seat kind of game at the Libro Centre Sunday night in a battle for fourth place in the Provincial Junior Hockey League (Junior ‘C’) West Stobbs Division.
It took a shootout for the visiting Mooretown Flags to edge the host Amherstburg Admirals 2-1. The Flags took over fourth spot in the eight-team loop now with 15 points, just one up on the locals.
A busy weekend for the Admirals as the night before, also at home, they were blasted 9-3 by the visiting Lakeshore Canadiens.
Against the Flags, it was somewhat of a controversial finish as, after 3-on-3 overtime, the game went into a shootout and the Admirals coaching staff showed its displeasure when Mooretown’s second shooter Dylan Dupuis touched the puck in two different attempts and was allowed to restart.
However, both Casey Schauten and Jace Dupis got the best of Admirals’ goalie Russell Vaughan. Amherstburg’s Brett Jones and Cory Leach could not beat Mooretown’s John Chartrand who made 43 saves on the night.
“I’m not happy with the outcome. We outplayed them and outshot them we just couldn’t put the puck in the net,” said Amherstburg head coach Beau Hunter.
It was scoreless in the first period and the Admirals were relentless in their forecheck and did not allow the visitors a shot in the first five minutes of the game.
“At the start of the year, we had a bit of a decline getting forwards to pressure but it’s something we are working on and it’s good to see,” he noted.
Also quite apparent was the ability for the Admirals to get the puck out of their own end very quickly to set up offensive opportunities.
Mooretown hit the scoresheet first when Ryan Vidler connected in the second period but a minute later, Admirals’ rookie Rory Sandison responded and the game remained a draw until the shootout.
Sandison leads the team with nine goals and when asked if he expected this much offensive production from Sandison, Hunter replied, “I didn’t see him as a top six forward. He’s played his way into it. Obviously, he knows where to go. He’s got great hands and finds ways to put the puck into the net.”
Amherstburg had a chance late in regulation but a retaliation penalty erased a possible powerplay.
“It’s something we have to build into these guys, that when there is a penalty up on the board, you have to step away.”
On Saturday night, the Canadiens led 3-1 after the first and were up 5-1 after 40 minutes. Veteran Finnigan Russett, who just won a gold medal with the St. Clair College Saints men’s baseball team, scored along with Jones and blueliner Jake Goudreault.
The Admirals take their 6-6-1 record to Mooretown this upcoming Saturday. After playing on Walpole Island Nov. 7, the Admirals are back at the Libro Centre for Nov. 9 versus Dresden and the following night versus Wheatley.
SLAPSHOTS… A few changes for the Admirals, goalie Jay Procter has been released and replaced with Dominic DeZorzi who won his first game in net… Behind the bench Jim Hunter has returned as an assistant coach… Veteran defenceman Jadyn Brown sat out on the weekend due to a suspension and rookie blueliner Freddy McCroy did not play due to injury… The Admirals did a great job at Pink at the Rink on Saturday for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Admirals come up short vs. Mooretown and Lakeshore
By Fred Groves
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