Win puts Cougars in second place

January 21, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
With a 5-2 win over the Caledon Golden Hawks at home on Thursday night, the Schomberg Cougars leapfrogged the Alliston Hornets to occupy second place in the Georgian Mid-Ontario Jr. C standings.
With 53 points, the Cougars now hold a two-point lead over the Hornets and are now just seven points behind the league leading Penetang Kings with just four games remaining in the regular season.
The Cougars welcomed back a familiar face in Tyler Simmons, who played with the Cougars last season.
Simmons is rejoining the Cougars after some time spent with the Jr. B Brampton Bombers this season.
“It’s a little bit different and there’s a bunch of new faces, but other than that it’s a bunch of great guys,” Simmons said after his first game back as a Cougar. “I’m looking forward to seeing how things go here.”
Simmons didn’t register any points in the game, but didn’t look out of place out on the ice.
“It feels good,” he said about the win. “We all worked hard and came together as a team, especially with new lineups and having to create new chemistry, but we’re clicking pretty well out there it seems. I’m looking forward to the playoffs and going deep … It’s good to be back.”
Also lacing up for the Cougars for the first time this season, was newly acquired Arran MacDonald.
Assistant coach Doug Taylor said the coaching staff was pleased with their performance on Thursday night.
“Arran MacDonald was just picked up last night and hadn’t even skated in practice with us yet, but they’re going to fit in well,” he said. “It will take them some time to find their feet on the ice, but as the game went on they were getting more comfortable.”
As for the game itself, it was fast paced and even matched until the Cougars ramped up the intensity in the third period.
John Gage capitalized on a power play opportunity with just three and half minutes left in the first.
Less than a minute later, some hard work by Blake Culley in front of the net paid off when Colton Wood finished off the rebound to make it 2-0.
The Golden Hawks scored shortly after to make it 2-1, but Colton Wood said it was those two previous Cougar goals that seemed to tilt the game in Schomberg’s favour.
“My linemate Culley said, ‘you want a goal?’ so I said, ‘let’s get one,’ so we went out there and got two. I think that’s when we started to get going. By the third we came out pretty hot.”
And that they did. After Caledon equalized four minutes in to the third, the Cougars cranked it up and notch and put on the pressure.
JP Crescenzi was the one who broke the 2-2 tie with an even strength goal that was preceded by multiple scoring chances for the Cougars.
Derek Neilly and Christian Muenz added insurance markers to cap off a hard-fought 5-2 win.
Both Wood and Taylor felt it was the Cougars’ ability to stay disciplined that was the difference in the game.
“We didn’t take as many penalties as we have, like against Penetang last week, I think that was the key. When we’re five-on-five we can compete with any team for sure,” Wood said.
Next week the Cougars face a big test with a home and home against Alliston – the team they are fighting with for first place.
The Cougars will host at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night at the Trisan Centre and will visit Allison on Friday.
For more information, stats, schedules or standings visit http://jrccougars.pointstreaksites.com.