Cougars finish 3rd, play Golden Hawks first round

March 9, 2022 · 0 Comments

By Robert Belardi

The Schomberg Cougars 5-3 victory over the Caledon Golden Hawks last Thursday wasn’t enough to secure second place as the boys will now have to take on their cross-town rivals in a seven-game-series.
The Cougars finished with 43 points. It all came down to Sunday’s game between the Orillia Terriers and the Huntsville Otters to decide their fate. The Terriers defeated the Otters 4-1, securing second spot for themselves.
Dropping down to third spot, it will be a physical series against the Golden Hawks and last Thursday was simply a preview of what is to come.
Zach Gallow got the Cougars on the board thanks to his shot squeaking through Mason Kameka’s five-hole to give the boys the lead. Luke Camara tied it up midway through the frame to make 1-1 into the first intermission.
At the beginning of the second period, the Cougars came out pouncing. Marc Bottero potted home his 30 goal of the season just 58 seconds in. But shortly after and on the power play to boot, Cougars netminder Tristan Szymanowski committed a costly mistake. The Cougars netminder jumped out of goal to play the puck that was intercepted by the Golden Hawks. Noah Crispo put it home into the empty cage.
Towards the end of the period, the Cougars connected on the power play. Christian Taylor snuck it past Kameka with six seconds left in the period to regain the lead.
With momentum on their side, Cameron Kokelj scored twice in the final period bringing his scoring tally up to 30 as well. His 57 points this year, is the most in the North Carruthers Division. Marc Bottero finished in second place with 53 points.
Finishing the game as the first star with one goal and three assists on the night, Christian Taylor said he likes where this group is at.
“I think we feel pretty good. Since the break, we obviously put ourselves in a good position to play second or third. That’s where we feel comfortable playing. I think we just continue to work hard and work hard in practice and the rest will take care of itself,” Taylor said.
“I think we’ve been playing pretty good as of late. If we just stick to our game plan we feel like we can beat anyone in the league.”
Game one is at the Trisan Centre at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Game two will take place on Saturday at the Trisan Centre once again at 7:30 p.m. as well.