Cougars stand tall, chalk up two more wins

November 5, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
The Schomberg Cougars continue their ascent this season, with two more wins against Stayner and Orillia last week.
The four points keep them near the top of the standings with 26 points – just one behind the first-place squad from Penetang.
“We’re still improving and we’re only a third of the way through the season, so we still need to find the ways to improve and get better,” said assistant coach Doug Taylor. “There are still little things we’ve got to work on, but they’ll come in time. The good thing I saw this weekend was the depth on our team really showed. Guys that are maybe not our top offensive guys really stepped up and carried the team. It was good to see that.”

Spooky victory

Things didn’t look good for the Cougars early in the game against the chippy Siskins on Halloween.
Forward Brandon Falsarella got the Cougars on the board first with a goal assisted by John Gage just five minutes in, but the Siskins turned it right back on them scoring three goals within seven minutes.
When things started to get a little rough in the second period, the Cougars seemed to take advantage as Declan Lampe and Kiefer McIntosh each scored a power play goal and Blake Culley converted a penalty shot to tie the game 4-4.
With much more of the same happening in the third period, the Cougars woke up and really took it to their opponent.
Lampe, Culley and Falsarella each scored their second goals and Cougars’ captain Brandon Yorke added one of his own on an empty net to seal an 8-4 win.
Taylor Ewart made 32 saves for the win and the power play was the difference in the win, with the Cougars going 3 for 12 in the game.
Assistant coach Doug Taylor said he saw some positive things from his club in Stayner.
“We were short a few of our key guys with the flu and whatnot, our captain and a couple other players and we lost a couple more in the game with suspensions, but it really showed our depth with some of the other guys stepping up. They met the challenge and answered to the 8-4 loss (Stayner) gave us at home earlier in the season”

Orillia dumped

Against Orillia, the Cougars once again found themselves down early in the game, but dug deep and worked their way back.
While on their first power play of the game, Gage opened the scoring to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead, but Orillia’s Jake Shaw replied with a shorthanded goal to tie it all up for the third.
Orillia took the lead just two and a half minutes into the second, but Cailean Thornton-Wilson and Ryley Egerton quickly got the lead Cougars back for the Cougars to set the stage for the third period.
To take the wind out of Orillia and their home crowd, defenceman Justin Formenton made it 4-2 just 16 seconds in.
And to make matters worse for Orillia, Mitch Safaric scored a shorthanded goal of his own to give the Cougars a 5-2 win.
This time Garett Taylor got the win for the Cougars in net, making 39 saves in a well deserved victory.
“We were back on larger ice there, so it took us a little while to get our legs underneath us,” said Taylor, “but once we got going we got through that game and came out of it all with the four points, which keeps us in second place, so it was a good weekend for us.”
Forward Brandon Falsarella, who has eight goals thus far, said the two road wins were big for his team.
“Both games were very important for us to stay out of the box and both games we did, so the discipline was there,” he said. “As a team we worked well together and pushed forward. In Orillia, we worked well as a team to come back and get the win.”
Falsarella said the whole team has been working hard and has bought into their coaches’ systems and therefore isn’t surprised about their early season success.
“When guys do that it rubs off on the rest of the team. I think that we’re putting in hard work and trying to win games and working to our full potential together,” he said.
“I feel that one of the advantages that our team has is that we’re all around the same age. It’s a fairly young team and there are no superstars on the team, but we have a lot to work with. Everyone has their role on the team and it works well like that.”
The Cougars will come back from their road swing on Thursday night to play against Huntsville at the Trisan Centre at 8:30 p.m.
For more information, visit http://jrccougars.pointstreaksites.com.