The Amherstburg Admirals were in action twice last week and picked up a win and a loss.
The most recent game was a 3-1 loss at the hands of the undefeated Essex 73’s. The 73’s improved to 6-0 following Saturday night’s game at the Libro Centre while the Admirals now sit at 3-5.
Essex had the first seven shots of the game Saturday night but couldn’t break through on Amherstburg goalie Russell Vaughan until late in the period when Marcus Levesque banged home his first of the season to give the 73’s at 1-0 lead.
The visitors doubled their lead four minutes into the second period when Patrick McManus fired home a wrist shot from the slot, which was McManus’ second goal of the season.
Rory Sandison scored for Amherstburg at the 18:18 mark of the second period to give the home fans something to cheer about.
It was Sandison’s sixth goal of the season. Essex restored their two-goal lead late in the period as, with just under four seconds left, Gabriel Piccolo notched his sixth of the year.
There was no scoring in the third period. Essex outshot the Admirals on the night by a 28-20 margin.
“They played hard,” said Admirals head coach Beau Hunter. “I thought we played well defensively, keeping them to three goals. Vaughan played well.”
Hunter believes his team had good chances and if they were to have converted on more of them, it could have been a different outcome.
“You never know what could happen,” he said.
Hunter wants the Admirals to win more battles as by doing so, they could create more offensive chances for themselves.
Vaughan stood tall for the Admirals last Wednesday night in Wheatley, stopping 26 of 27 shots in a 4-1 Amherstburg victory.
The Admirals built a 3-0 lead after two periods with Brady Drouillard scoring his fifth of the year, Jack Bulmer picking up his second and Sandison registering his fifth all in the second period. Brett Jones made it 4-0 just 1:32 into the third period with his second of the year.
Vaughan lost his shutout with under ten seconds left when Seth Zylstra scored his first of the year for the Sharks.
Hunter said the Admirals came out and executed their game plan against Wheatley and was pleased with how the game went.
“I thought we played our best game of the season,” he said. “It was a good team effort.”
The Admirals are in Lakeshore this Friday for a 7 p.m. game against the Canadiens. They return to the Libro Centre this Saturday for a 7:30 face-off versus the Blenheim Blades.
Admirals lose to Essex, beat Wheatley over past week
By Ron Giofu
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