Cougars down Orillia, lose to Stayner

December 3, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
The Cougars had something to prove this week, wanting to bounce back from a couple losses and make sure last week was just a blip on the radar.
They did that at home on Thursday night in a home matchup against the Orillia Terriers in a 3-1 win.
“I thought we played good tonight and had some hustle, lots of chances, but Orillia is playing better hockey right now, so we had to be prepared for them. We had a good couple of practices this week,” said head coach Jim Egerton.
“Last week the Erin game wasn’t our best, but the game in Stayner I thought we played well enough to win that game even though we got outshot. We still had a chance to win that game.”
In the first period against Orillia, Kevin Sarrazin gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead on the power play at 9:55 with Blake Culley picking up the lone assist.
Orillia evened things up just minutes later, but the Cougars used a strong second period to get ahead and keep it that way.
Kiefer McIntosh and Declan Lampe each scored in the second period to put the Cougars up 3-2. There was no scoring in the third despite Schomberg having to kill off a couple five-on-three situations.
Goalie Taylor Ewart earned the win stopping 21 shots.
“Taylor Ewart made some big saves tonight and we got some timely goals, but I think we probably could have had more goals tonight – their goalie played well,” Egerton said post-game. “But a win is a win and that’s what we needed to get back on track.”
McIntosh, who scored and provided a spark for the Cougars throughout the game, was happy with the way his team played.
“We took the tempo to them right off the bat and then we kind of let off for a couple minutes when they got their one goal,” he said. “After that we just took it back to them and never looked back.”
After losing a couple games the previous week, McIntosh acknowledged it was crucial for the Cougars to rebound.
“It was very important especially since we’re playing Stayner on Monday. They’re a good team and we just lost to them the other night, so we want to go out there and kick there butt,” he said.
“We’ve just got to move our feet. They’re a big strong team, but as long as we can move our feet and get around them it’ll be no problem.”

Stayner overpowers

The Cougars were confident heading into this one on Monday night, but it didn’t turn out the way they had hoped it would.
By the time the third period rolled around, the Cougars found themselves in a deep 4-0 hole.
They pushed hard and tried to mount a comeback, outshooting the Siskins 15-5 in the third, but the damage had been done.
They were, however, able to get some offence going. McIntosh scored on the power play with 11 minutes left in the game on a goal assisted by Declan Lampe and Brandon Yorke.
Blake Culley then made it 5-2 at 13:50 again on the power play, but the Cougars ran out of time quashing a possible comeback.
This week the Cougars will face another big test when they welcome the Alliston Hornets to the Trisan Centre on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m.
The Hornets currently hold second place in the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior C division, with the Cougars two points behind.
For more information, visit http://jrccougars.pointstreaksites.com.