Alliston Hornets spoil Cougars home opener

September 16, 2014 · 0 Comments

Schomberg’s goalie Taylor Ewart had his work cut out for him in Thursday’s loss to the Alliston Hornets.
Photo by Jake Courtepatte

By Jake Courtepatte
Looking to rebound off their best finish in a season since 2003, the Schomberg Cougars kicked off their regular season last week in the 2014-2015 Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League.
The Cougars drew a tough start to the season, facing off against the Alliston Hornets at home last Thursday, who went all the way to GMOHL finals last year before being defeated by the Penetang Kings.
General Manager Gary Waldrum was behind the bench for the Cougars, as Head Coach Jim Egerton was suspended two games for a GM33 violation, where a player leaves the penalty box after a fight only to get into a second fight.
Nic Archibald opened the scoring early for the Hornets, potting the first goal of the year 30 seconds into a Brandon Yorke charging penalty.
Up 2-0 with under six minutes to go in the first, the Hornets got another power play opportunity when Mitchell Robinson put a hard cross-check on the Hornet player along the boards without the puck.
Dunlop picked up his second goal of the game and third point of the period, taking a nice feed in the slot from Tanner Dockerty and sliding the puck under the pads of Cougars goaltender Taylor Ewart to go 3/3 on the power play.
Meanwhile, the Schomberg power play was not experiencing the same success, never being able to get set up in the Hornet zone on their first two power plays in the game.
Down 300 heading into the second, the Cougars were given some life when back-to-back tripping calls gave them a minute long 5-on-3.
However, Alliston killed off both penalties, despite a wide open rip from the top of the circle from Brandon Yorke, which glanced off the shoulder of the Hornet goaltender.
Alliston added some insurance, picking up a goal each in the second and third periods.
Frustrations boiled over for the Cougars in the third, as Riley Egerton picked up a 10-minute misconduct for abuse of officials. With time running out, the team did not give themselves much of a chance, having to contend with three 5-on-3 penalty kills in the period.
Disciplinary problems plagued the Cougars all game, as the team picked up a total of 34 minutes of penalties.
Hornets goaltender Tyler Brindle stopped all 22 shots he faced, while Ewart made 33 of 38 saves in the loss.
The Cougars next face the Stayner Siskins at the Trisan Centre this Thursday at 8:30 p.m., before hitting the road to play the Hornets in Alliston the next day.
For schedules, stats, and more information, visit www.schombergcougars.com.