Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
David scored a major victory against Goliath tonight as the Amherstview Jets held on for a 4-3 road win over the Napanee Raiders in Game 2 of their best-of-seven semifinal series.
The Jets couldn’t have picked a better time for their first victory of the year over the top ranked Raiders, as they evened the series at 1-1.
Ty Norman got the visitors on the board quickly, scoring 1:47 into the game. James O’Brien doubled the lead at the 12:07 mark, chasing Napanee’s starting goaltender Jeremy Piazzi in the process.
Austin Labelle responded for Napanee at the 13:35 mark, but the team wasn’t able to build any momentum.
Zach Maciel struck just 39 seconds into the second period with a power-play goal to put the Jets up 3-1 and Joey Mayer tacked on another just over three minutes later.
That 4-1 held until Labelle chipped in a quick goal in the third followed by one from Griffen Conger to cut the deficit to one with over half a period to go. Try as they might, the Raiders couldn’t get the equalizer.
Jets goalie Alexel Masanko once again turned in a brilliant performance, stopping 46 shots for the win. Napanee outshot their opponents 49-25 in the losing effort.
Napanee will look to regroup before heading onto the road for Game 3, which goes Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the W.J. Henderson Arena. Game 4 will also be in Amherstview, taking place Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
While the prospect of two straight road games following a loss may seem daunting, the Raiders were a slightly better road team in 2017-18, winning 19 of 20 and losing one in overtime. They also won all four of their trips to the W.J. Henderson Arena. The Jets were 10-10 at home, compared to 8-10-1 on the road.
Meanwhile in the league’s other semifinal series, the Port Hope Panthers hold a 2-0 advantage over the Picton Pirates.