Cougars drop opener to Caledon rivals

February 4, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
The Schomberg Cougars Junior A hockey club ended the regular season on a winning note, but stumbled into game one of their first round series against the Caledon Golden Hawks on Sunday night.
After suffering three straight losses to Alliston and Stayner, the Cougars rebounded last Thursday night at home with a solid 5-2 win over Orillia.
Bobby Quinn started the Cougars off on the right foot with the first goal of the game, while Blake Culley added two goals of his own. New recruits Arran Macdonald and Joel Wright also scored for the Cougars in the win.
After the game optimism was high among the players, as they hoped to carry that momentum over into game one against Caledon on Sunday.
“I thought we played good and it was a good way to wrap up the season even though we had a couple rough games coming towards the end there,” said forward Declan Lampe. “We came together at the end there and I think we’re going to go into the playoffs looking pretty good.”
Lampe, one of the team’s few veterans, said the late season swoon was a product of distraction and that it in a way might have been good for the young Cougars team.
“It was kind of us an eye-opener, which made us feel like we’re not going to roll into playoffs just sweeping series, we have to work for our wins,” he said. “We stopped playing as team and started playing individual hockey. We’re a team, we play as a team and we win as a team.”

Caledon takes opener

There wasn’t much of a break for the Cougars in between the conclusion of the regular season and the playoffs, as they were right back at it on Sunday night for game one in Caledon.
Things started off well for the Cougars, as Kiefer McIntosh landed a shot in the back of the net to give Schomberg a 1-0 lead in the final 40 seconds of the period. JP Crescenzi received the only assist on the goal.
However, Caledon’s special teams woke up in the second period and took advantage of some untimely Cougar penalties, scoring two goals just two minutes apart to snatch away the Cougar lead.
Defenceman Justin Formenton knotted things up at 2-2 with a power play goal of his own nine minutes in, but Caledon took back the lead with a late goal.
The Cougars didn’t give much in the third period, as Caledon ran away with the game scoring three more goals on route to a 6-2 win.
“They’re fast and they play a lot like us, so we’ll match up against them, but I think we’ve got a lot more heart and drive than them and our special teams have been better than theirs,” Lampe said earlier in the week.
The Cougars will be back at practice this week and will look to rebound when the series returns home on Thursday night at the Trisan Centre.
Defenceman Kevin Sarrazin said his team knows exactly what it will take to be successful in the series.
“We’re just going to play Cougar hockey and it doesn’t really matter who we play in the first round. We’re going to come out and it doesn’t really matter who is in our way.”
Game two: Thursday, Feb. 6, 8:30 p.m. at the Trisan Centre.
Game three: Sunday, Feb. 9 in Caledon.
Game four: Monday, Feb. 10, 7:30 at the Trisan Centre.
Game five: Thursday, Feb. 13, 8:30 p.m. at the Trisan Centre.
Game six: Sunday, Feb. 16 in Caledon.
Game seven: Monday, Feb. 17, 8:30 p.m. at the Trisan Centre.