Cougars advance, win first playoff series in years

February 18, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
Just days after winning their first playoff game in five years, the Schomberg Cougars Jr. C hockey club upped the ante and won their first playoff series in 11 years by dispatching the Caledon Golden Hawks in game five on Thursday night.
“For the organization as a whole and for a lot of the veterans in this room, this is a good win for them, because getting a series win out of the way is going to give us some confidence going into the next round,” said Cougars’ head coach Jim Egerton on Thursday night.
With the Stayner Siskins coming back in their series against Erin on Sunday afternoon, it’s now set in stone that the Cougars will face the first place Penetang Kings in the Georgian Mid-Ontario Jr. C semi-finals. The other series will feature the Alliston Hornets against the Stayner Siskins.
In getting to this point, the Cougars had to face a little bit of adversity early on. The Golden Hawks took the series lead in game one with a 6-2 in Caledon, but that seemed to shake up the young Cougars squad.
They would win the next four in a row in convincing fashion, outscoring the Golden Hawks 25-9 in the final four games.
Defenceman Nicholas Chaykowsky was elated to help secure a semi-final berth for the organization.
“I feel honoured,” he said after the game. “I think this is one of the oldest clubs that has stayed in the same location in the whole loop. The Hull’s and everyone put so much effort in and it’s a great feeling. We lost to Caledon first and it felt like we were on a rough road and then Hull came in and read us a speech and we really took that to heart.
“Personally, that first game we won I was trying to win for them and then it escalated from there, the energy kept going and we just kept clicking as a team.”
When it came to dealing the final blow on Thursday night, the Cougars knew they would have to come out fast against a desperate club.
Arran Mcdonald answered the call for the Cougars when he gave his team an early lead with a power play goal just over two minutes into the game.
A Chaykowsky shot that missed the net started off the play in deep, while forwards JP Crescenzi and Kiefer McIntosh drew the assists on the opening goal.
The Cougars remained strong for a large stretch, until the Golden Hawks evened up the score with three minutes remaining on the power play.
However, the Cougars replied right back with furious pressure scoring two quick power play goals before the conclusion of the first to regain a 2-1 lead.
Mcdonald scored his second of the game from McIntosh and Justin Formenton, while veteran John Gage scored the second goal from Colton Wood.
“We knew that they were going to come out hard, so we wanted to kill their confidence real quick,” Mcdonald said of his quick start in the game. “It felt good to get a couple on the board quickly so that they felt like that didn’t have a chance to win … We noticed on their bench that everyone was getting mad at each other and we just stuck together as a team.”
For the final 40 minutes, the Cougars looked like a well-oiled machine that controlled much of the play, using their passing and speed to control the game.
Chaykowsky and Mitch Safaric each added goals to add to their lead, making it a 5-1 final.
“We played well,” Egerton said. “We knew that they were going to come out hard and try to get back in the series somehow. It’s always tough to get that last win. It’s unfortunate for them that they had a short bench tonight, but we told our guys it doesn’t matter because sometimes teams play better shorthanded.”
Aside from a bit of a slow start in the third period, Egerton said he was pleased with his team’s effort.
For now the focus turns to the Penetang Kings for the semi-finals, which is slated to start Thursday night in Schomberg and then back to Penetang on Friday night.
The Cougars have played the Kings well this season, including a shootout an overtime loss.
Egerton said the Cougars know they have a big task at hand, but know what they have to do to be successful.
“We’re going to have to contain their firepower for sure, because their pretty explosive offensively. We’ll have to stay disciplined, as always, and try to get to the net,” he said.
Check the Cougars pointstreak site for dates, times, stats and updates at http://jrccougars.pointstreaksites.com.