Ten games into the SCTA season and the standings suggest that there is a group of five teams in the middle of the pack that on any given night could beat the other. The Highlanders faced 2 of these teams this past weekend in Hamilton and Halton.
Leading into the game on
Saturday, the visiting Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs were winless in 3 and the
Highlanders were looking to make it 4. This
was the first meeting between these two teams this season and whether it was
that or the larger than usual crowd at the Chesley Community Centre it resulted
in a dominate performance and one of the Highlander’s biggest wins of
late.
After a scoreless first with some
impressive goaltending on both ends, the Highlanders lit the lamp midway
through the second when Jordan Vanhaelemeesch finished off a beauty 3-way
passing play with Tyler Rolfe and Spencer Elder firing a low blocker-side
knuckler that any major leaguer would be proud of. Minutes later, with a 5-on-3 power play, the
Highlanders defenseman Garrett McFadden fed a wide open Kyle Betts whose shot
trickled through the Jr. Bulldog net minder to the goal line before Andrew
Turnbull out-muscled the defender to finish it off putting the Highlanders up
by 2 before the end of the second. In
the third, Grey-Bruce added one more off the stick of Trevor Nevidomskis with
help from Ethan Skinner and Hunter Robin-Gibbons before they sent the “Dogs’
packing.
Tyler Fassl was outstanding in
goal throughout the game playing one of his strongest games of the season to
record the 3-0 shutout stopping all 31 shots he faced.
The Highlanders travelled to the PowerAde
Centre on Sunday to take on the Halton Hurricanes just one week after the
‘Canes” played to 1-1 draw against our hometown Highlanders. The previous game saw the Hurricanes score on
a 6-on-3 power play with just 6 seconds left to get the single point. This game the Highlanders would be the ones battling
late in the game to get the tie. The
Highlanders however were not so lucky.
After spotting the ‘Canes” a 3
goal lead into the third they were faced a formidable task. Down by 2 in the second, a 5-on-3 power play
seemed to be a key point in the game and the Highlanders were unable to
capitalize. For the most part the Highlanders
dominated the play in the third period but could not convert the chances they
had. Finally, while on the power play,
Ben Van Ooteghem worked the puck to the point to McFadden whose shot deflect
off a Halton defender and found the bottom corner. Just minutes later, Nevidomskis on a 2-on-1 break
fed Van Ooteghem and he made no mistake when he broke in alone across the front
of the net and beat the goalie. The
Highlanders kept chipping away and it looked like they just might complete the
come-back when a goal mouth scramble saw the puck cross the Hurricane goal line
only to be denied by a quick whistle.
With a never-give-up attitude it appeared once again that they had
completed the comeback only to be denied a second time by the on-ice officials
for undisclosed reasons. With time
running out the Highlanders were unable to replicate the Halton feat from the
week before and came out on the losing end 3-2.
The Highlanders currently sit in 6th place in the SCTA standings with a record of 5-3-3. They will host Burlington Eagles on Tuesday and then first place Oakville Rangers on Saturday.
Article submitted by Dave Van Ooteghem