Cougars ousted by top dogs Penetang Kings

March 4, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
It wasn’t the way they wanted to go out, but the Schomberg Cougars Junior C hockey club refused to go out with a whimper and instead went out with a bang in game six of their semi-final playoff series against the Penetang Kings on Monday night.
Trailing the Kings three games to two heading into the game, the Cougars dug deep and gave it their all, but were ultimately eliminated after losing a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime loss after storming back in the third period.
The game started off well for the Cougars, as Declan Lampe scored just 24 seconds in to put his team up 1-0, which Christian Muenz drawing the assist.
“We came out hard just like we wanted and we got that first goal really early and I think the excitement of scoring that first goal and all of a sudden we took our foot of the accelerator a little bit and gave up two goals,” said head coach Jim Egerton after the game.
And the scoresheet doesn’t lie. The Kings went on to score four straight goals and carried a 4-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of the game.
“Between the second and third period we said, ‘listen guys, we’re a better team than this and we’re not going to go out this way, we’re going to go out and just pick away,” Egerton said. “Just put pucks to the net and see what happens.’”
The speech worked and the Cougars woke up and gave it their all for the third period in an attempt for a comeback.
JP Crescenzi led the charge for Schomberg, scoring a power play goal at 2:48 from Kiefer McIntosh and Justin Formenton to make it 4-2.
Seconds later and again on the power play, John Gage poked home a puck off a rebound from right in close to pull the Cougars to within one goal.
Nicholas Chaykowsky was credited with the only assist on Gage’s power play goal.
The Cougars continued to push feverishly for the tying marker and were buoyed by some huge timely saves by goalie Taylor Ewart.
As the time ticked down, the Cougars kept pressing and eventually broke through with the tying goal, which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Arran Mcdonald, who had missed a previous attempt at the tying goal earlier in the period, finally equalized with just over a minute left in the game sending the game into sudden death overtime.
With momentum clearly on the side of the home team, the Kings were looking for a way to steal it back and did just that nearly four minutes in by scoring the series winning goal to eliminate the Cougars from the Georgian Mid-Ontario Jr. C playoffs.
Formenton, who had another strong game for the Cougars both on the blueline and on the scoresheet, said his team rallied after the second period after a chat in the dressing room.
“We were all silent and a couple leaders on the team spoke up and that’s what really got us fired up for the third,” he said. “A couple power plays helped and then we were clicking nice and were able to get back into the game.”
He added that it was a tough goal to swallow after how they played leading up to that point.
“It was just a rebound. An overtime goal is not going to be a pretty goal and we knew that going into it, so we just tried to get everything on the net, but they came down on us and potted one.”
Formenton ended up with five goals and 14 points in the playoffs, good for top spot on the team.
Egerton said it was the Cougars inability to contain the Kings’ top line (especially in their own rink) that ultimately was the difference in the series.
“Their one line is hard to contain at any rate, but their team as a whole, they’re big bodies and get them in that little rink … they cycle the puck well,” he said. “They do a lot of good things in that rink. I give them credit. They’re a good hockey team and it’ll be a good series with Alliston.”
Egerton was also quick to point out that his young team will take lots of lessons out of this year’s playoffs looking ahead.
“We’re very young compared to most teams. To be a young team that hasn’t been in situations like this before, it’s tough mentally on them. We played one of the top teams in Ontario and I think we gave them a little bit of a scare,” he said.

Previous Games

Earlier in the week, the Cougars showed some life in the series earning a rare road win in Penetang (the Cougars were the first team to beat the Kings on their own ice in regulation this season) and then followed that up with a 6-1 home win at the Trisan Centre on Thursday night.
But Penetang took life again in game five to hammer the Cougars 7-3.
Earlier in the week, Gage chalked up the road win in Penetang as an important measuring stick for the young Cougar club.
“That was definitely a big milestone for us,” he said. “To be the first team to do that all year definitely says something. They knew we were going to come out every game and that we were going to take it to them.”
Looking back on the season, Egerton said he is pleased with the way his team developed.
“I told the guys I was really proud of them coming to the rink tonight and whether we win or lose we’re proud of what we’ve done being a team as young as we are and working as hard as we have all year long,” he said. “Coming to work and practice, the guys were pretty dedicated.
“We went from going out four straight last year to going to game six in the second round this year, which doesn’t sound like much, but to this organization it means a lot. It means we’re moving forward. Hopefully next year we can get some of these guys together and to hang around and the goal is to move some of these kids around to a higher level. I think if this team was to stick around for a couple more years, we’ll be the team to beat.”