Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
New faces found their way onto the scoresheet for the Napanee Raiders this weekend as they continued their winning ways, topping the Gananoque Islanders 5-2 at home Friday and Campbellford Rebels 10-1 on the road Saturday.
At home on Friday Hunter Cooney, playing in his fourth game as an AP with the Raiders, picked up his first Junior C goal 2:24 into the game. Jaxon Boyer, playing in just his second game with the Raiders, earned an assist, as did veteran Devon King.
Gananoque’s Brandon Lochead responded just over a minute later to knot the game at 1-1. That’s where the score stayed until Boyer picked up his first Junior C goal 7:07 into the second period. Ryan Casselman and Curtis Marrison picked up assists. That was the start of a three goal period for the Raiders as Casselman tacked on another at 12:44 on the power-play with help from Nelson Powers and Evan Foley. Reid Humphrey added another in the final seconds of the frame with assists to Marrison and Casselman.
Riley Twofoot cut the lead to 4-2 with an Islander goal midway through the third. Humphrey restored the three goal lead shortly after with Casselman and Jacob Gilbert assisting.
Despite the loss, former Raider Cameron Parr put up a strong showing in net, stopping 41 of 46 saves. Nicholas Nabuurs meanwhile had a relatively quiet night, facing just 17 shots on the night for the win.
On Saturday the Raiders offense provided plenty of support to Jayden Schirmers, who made his Raiders debut in net. He stopped 19 of 20 Rebel shots while his teammates potted 10 goals at the other end of the rink.
Casselman opened the scoring at 4:38, his first of two on the night. Foley added a hat trick, scoring once in each period, including a power-play tally at the 16:46 mark of the first for a 2-0 lead.
The Raiders iced the win with four in the second period from Keegan Wayte, Gilbert, Casselman and Foley.
Benny Scarr broke the shutout with Campbellford’s lone goal of the game 2:26 into the third to cut the lead to 6-1. It didn’t seem to deter the Raiders however as veterans Foley, King and Bailey Matthews each potted a goal as did defenceman Bryce Robertson, who was playing in his second game with the Raiders after debuting the night prior.
The 19-year-old from Ancaster began his season with the Trenton Golden Hawks, where a shoulder injury limited him to just six games. Prior to arriving in Trenton he played the previous two seasons with his hometown Ancaster Avalanche of the Junior B Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. Last season he wore the ‘C’ with the Avalanche. His best offensive output came in 2016-17, where he had nine goals and eight assists in 44 games, adding six more points in five playoff games that year.
The Raiders are hoping his veteran presence will strengthen an already strong blueline as they forge into the second half and gear up for the playoffs.
The Raiders, now 22-1-0-1 on the year, will return to action Friday night when they host the Amherstview Jets for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop. It will also be the team’s annual teddy bear toss game, where fans are encouraged to bring stuffed toys to the game and toss them onto the ice following Napanee’s first goal of the game. The toys will then be collected by the players and donated to kids in need this holiday season.
On Saturday they hit the road and travel outside their division to take on the Orr Division’s Little Britain Merchants, who are 6-17-2-1 on the year.
Napanee leads the second place 17-8-0-1 Picton Pirates by 10 points (45-35). The Jets are third at 12-10-2 (26 points), the Islanders fourth at 8-15-1-1 (18), Port Hope Panthers fifth at 6-17-0-2 (14) and Rebels last at 1-25-0-1 (three).