Three Cougars notch hat tricks against Midland; enjoy overtime win against Caledon

December 17, 2013 · 0 Comments

Kiefer McIntosh goes hard to the net against Midland goalie Andrew Best in the 14-2 win last Thursday night. McIntosh ended up with a hat trick and two assists in the win.
Photo by Jeff Doner

By Jeff Doner
Something the Schomberg Cougars have proven this year is they are fully capable of bouncing back from a loss.
Earlier this month the Cougars were licking their wounds after a hard-fought loss to the rival Alliston Hornets, but they followed that up last week with a blowout win over the Midland Flyers and a close win over Caledon – a team they are battling with in the standings.
The Cougars now sit in third place with a 19-6 -2- 2 record and eight points behind the first-place Penetang Kings.

Double digits against Midland

On Thursday night at the Trisan Centre, the Cougars put on a goal scoring clinic against Midland. At the same time, they welcomed back a familiar face in Colton Wood, who has been away at school, but has a history with the Cougars.
“I haven’t been playing that much hockey, so my legs were toast, but other than that I felt good,” Wood said post-game. “I missed the boys that were playing here before and it was fun getting back to competitive hockey again.”
The towering forward adds some size, toughness and scoring prowess to the Cougars’ offensive lines and was instantly a noticeable addition to the lineup after scoring a hat trick and notching an assist in the 14-2 win over Midland.
Other than a bit of a lapse in the first period when the Flyers made it 4-2, the Cougars dominated the game.
“The coaches were telling us we were getting off our game,” Wood said about the last half of the first period. “I think we got a little cocky there, but then we settled down.”
The Cougars took over the final two frames of the game, scoring 10 more unanswered goals – five each period.
JP Crescenzi buried a hat trick and Kiefer McIntosh had another solid game for the cougars, also notching three goals and two assists.
Mitch Safaric had a five-point night and forward Brandon Falsarella scored two goals of his own.
“It gives us a lot of confidence and it’s very important that we capitalize on these games so that we send a message to other teams,” Falsarella said. “It’s also important to understand that we’re a good team and we need to bury every team like that and show that we’re a force in this league.”
Taylor Ewart made 21 saves in net for the win.

Overtime win at Caledon

The Cougars entered the game against the Caledon desperately wanting to notch a victory against the team that has beaten them twice already this season.
It was a gutsy come-from-behind win for the Cougars, who found themselves down 2-0 after the first period. But the Cougars used the power play in the second period to get back into the game.
Ryley Egerton scored his 12th of the season on the power play, assisted by Justin Formenton and Brandon Yorke.
Caledon make it 3-1 on the power play four minutes later, but Crescenzi replied with a power play goal of his own before the buzzer rang to end the second.
McIntosh evened things up, scoring the only goal in the third period (assisted by Wood and Blake Culley) and then captain Christian Muenz scored the overtime goal to cap the win.
The Cougars have one more game before taking a break for the holidays, when they host the Fergus Devils on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m.
“They’re a similar team to Midland in that they’re much more aggressive,” Falsarella said of the Devils. “Every point is important so it’s another game we have to win. A team like that, they’re going to come out ready to hit and ready. We have to have our heads up, play hard as a team and stand up for each other.”
For more information, visit http://jrccougars.pointstreaksites.com.