Cougars hit double digits over Hawks, fall in shootout to Terriers

October 8, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte
The Schomberg Cougars were in action twice this week, riding high off a three-game winning streak that put the team back at .500 on the season.
They hosted the Caledon Golden Hawks at the Trisan Centre Thursday night, the first meeting of the year between the two.
Schomberg earned the first scoring chance of the game shortly after the opening faceoff, when a Derek Neilly shot from the point provided a juicy rebound for Brandon Savoy at the right side of the net. A sprawling save by Hawks goaltender James Cyfko kept the young game scoreless.
The save seemed to spark the Caledon offence immediately as they headed the other way with great pressure, picking up over a full minute of zone time on the attack.
However, Cougar Luke Gamoyda made two of his eight saves in the period, sending the game to the first intermission tied 0-0.
The second period was one that the Hawks would surely like to forget. Neilly opened the scoring for the Cougars just over a minute in, opening the floodgates for five straight Cougar goals. Only a late tally by Hawk Michael Andrews kept the game slightly in reach, heading into the second intermission with a 5-1 Schomberg lead.
After another astounding four-goal scoring streak by the Cougars in the third, the blowout game turned chippy. The teams combined for 34 penalty minutes in the final seven minutes of play, including a Travesty of Game gross misconduct to Hawk Ryan Wonfor.
By the time the final whistle blew, the Cougars had won the game 10-2, and the teams had combined for 106 minutes of penalties.
The eight-goal win was Schomberg’s largest of the season to date, and the biggest deficit since a 13-2 win against the Fergus Devils last December.
Neilly had a breakout night for the Cougars, picking up his first three points of the season on a goal and two assists. He also earned the third star nomination.
In a game tailor-made to pad stats, Francesco Corona, Joseph Mete, and Brandon Yorke also had three-point nights.

Shootout with Orillia

The team traveled to Orillia two days later to face the Orillia Terriers, who hadn’t seen action since the Saturday before.
The off days did not seem to faze the home team, as Tyler Simmons opened the scoring for the Terriers less than a minute into the game.
Corona continued his hot streak 10 minutes later off a feed from Kiefer McIntosh, who is on a point-a-game pace in the early season.
The teams traded goals back and forth in the second, including Corona potting his second of the night, and headed into the third period with the Cougars up 3 -2.
After Orillia’s Jason Binnie evened up the score shortly into the final frame, the Cougars saw their chance to put away the game when the Terriers were called for a check to the head with under three minutes remaining.
A strong power play put a ton of pressure on the Orillia defenders, eventually buckling for a goal by JP Crescenzi that surely seemed to be the game winner.
However, with the goalie pulled and six attackers on the ice, Jacob Board put home the tying goal past Gamoyda with only 20 seconds left on the clock.
Overtime would solve nothing, and the Cougars headed to their second shootout in four games.
The shootout was a goalie battle between Gamoyda and Terrier Gordie Weiss, stopping all four of the first shooters each faced.
Crescenzi, Schomberg’s hero in the first shootout of the year, was stopped by Weiss to put the game on the stick of Simmons.
He made no mistake, sending one past Gamoyda for a 5-4 Orillia win.
The Cougars now move to a 4-3-0-1 record, good for fourth in league standings. They now face the Erin Shamrocks at home on Thursday, before meeting with Caledon again on the road Thanksgiving Sunday.
For stats, schedules, and more information, visit www.schombergcougars.com.