Kings stung by Hornets in battle for first
Author: Mike Dodd
Date: Dec 05, 2007
It was another rollercoaster weekend for the Penetang Kings and Midland Atlas Block Flyers, as both local Junior C teams racked up wins and losses in regular-season action.
Playing at home, Midland posted a 3-2 win over the Erin Shamrocks on Nov. 30, but lost 4-3 in overtime on Dec. 2 on the road against the Fergus Devils.
Meanwhile, the Penetang Kings launched the weekend with a decisive 5-1 win Nov. 30 over the Schomberg Cougars in front of 213 fans at the Penetanguishene Arena.
But the Kings ran up against the offensive power of the Alliston Hornets on Dec. 1 at home, eventually losing by a 6-3 score in front of 292 fans.
With the loss, the Kings fell out of a first place tie with Alliston in the Georgian Bay Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League standings.
First-period goals by Graig Speers and Kelly Loughran provided the King with a 2-1 lead over Alliston, but the Hornets responded with two unanswered goals in the middle stanza to take a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.
Alliston then outscored the Kings 3-1 in the third period to secure the win. Loughran notched his second goal of the game in the third period to round out the Penetang scoring.
Chris Daniels was tagged with the goaltending loss, while Penetang was held scoreless in six power-play chances.
In the 5-1 win over Schomberg, Loughran, Adam Heskamp, Greg Cerilli, Speers and Tyler Lumley notched singles, with Corey Moore picking up the win. Aaron Duval collected two assists in the game, while Corey Hastings, Kevin Imhoff, Marc Duquette, Brad Baum, Rick Greenslade, Shane Martin and Evan Cole added singles.
The Kings scored two of their goals while enjoying the man advantage.
In their 3-2 win over the Erin Shamrocks, the Midland Flyers picked up two goals from Ben Raney and a single from Nick Plourde. Jack Beasely collected two assists, while Raney, Josh Chase and Greg Wilkey added singles.
Tyler Bly posted the goaltending win, in a game where Midland was held scoreless in three power-play chances.
In Fergus, Jim Pointon and Jason Tsang scored in the first period to give Midland a 2-1 lead after one period. Josh Asselin later scored in the second to give Midland a 3-2 lead heading into the third period, before Fergus tied the game, and later won it in overtime.
Plourde added two assists for Midland, while Jesse Taylor and Gianni Cappellano had one each.
Tyler Bly was extremely busy in the Midland net, as Fergus held a 48-35 edge in shots in the game. Bly was under siege in the third period, as Fergus out-shot Midland by a 19-5 margin.
Following weekend action, Alliston (21-2-0-0) leads with 42 points, followed by Penetang (20-5-0-0) with 40 points, but The Kings have played two more games than Alliston.
Fergus (15-5-0-1) sits in third place with 31 points, followed by Erin (9-13-0-1) with 19 points. Midland (7-13-1-3) has 18 points, while Stayner and Schomberg have 12 and five points apiece.
Dec. 6, the Kings play in Schomberg, while Midland travels to Stayner.
At 8:30 p.m. Dec. 7, the Stayner Siskins play a visit to the Penetanguishene Arena to battle with the Kings.
Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Midland hosts the first-place Alliston Hornets at the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre.
