Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Showing no signs of slowing down as they entered the final quarter of the regular season schedule, the Napanee Raiders cruised to easy home victories on Friday and Sunday.
After dispatching the Amherstview Jets 7-2 to open the weekend, they picked up a tidy 6-2 win over the Picton Pirates on Sunday evening, giving them 13 straight wins on the year. Sunday’s win also assured them of no worse than a second place finish and they sport an 11 point lead over second place Port Hope with nine to play, one more than the Panthers.
Zach Wheeler and Ryan Casselman each had a goal within the opening 5:23 of Sunday’s game, setting an early tone. Casselman’s came while the Raiders were down a man in the penalty box. Trey Maracle gave the Pirates a beacon of hope with a late goal to close out the first, but the visitors were unable to build on that momentum. Josh Murphy scored quickly into the second and was at it again at the 8:59 mark to put Napanee up 4-1. Riley Steeves tacked on another on the power-play.
Nate Boomhower broke up the three goal unanswered stretch with a power-play goal at the 4:37 mark of the third, but it wasn’t enough. Napanee’s Reed Kekewich offset the goal with one of his own just under two minutes later to close out the scoring.
Not only was Picton playing catch up on the scoreboard all night, but they spent the vast majority of the game chasing the puck as well. Napanee outshot the Pirates 42-22 on the night. Nicholas Nabuurs picked up the win while Pierce Nelson took the loss, allowing all six goals.
On Friday it was a similar story, with Napanee building a 2-1 lead in the first and then erupting for three unanswered in the second before adding two more in the third for a 7-2 win over the Jets.
Murphy opened the scoring at the 2:40 mark of the game, earning a shower of teddy bears in the process. The bears were then collected by the Raiders and will be donated to less fortunate children in the area. The teddy toss game was originally scheduled for Dec. 15, but was postponed twice due to weather.
Members of the Napanee Raiders collect stuffed animals following the first goal of the game. The toys will be donated to less fortunate kids in the community. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Josh Murphy had the game’s first goal to set off the teddy toss. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Wheeler doubled the lead at the 7:41 mark. Kyle Cassford got the Jets on the board late in the first, but that was as close as they’d come to challenging their opponents on this night. Griffen Conger, Casselman and Tyler Ignazzitto all scored in the second while Zach Knapp-Hermer and Ignazzitto chipped in with one each in the third. Aiden Harris had one for the Jets in the final period.
Jeremy Piazzi earned the win, stopping 33 Jets shots. Alexel Masanko took the loss, stopping 51 of 58.
The Raiders’ next action will see them host the Panthers this Friday at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday they travel to Campbellford to take on the Rebels. The Rebels finally broke into the win column on Sunday, defeating the Gananoque Islanders 9-5. The win halted a 33 game losing streak they were on to open the season. For a complete list of stats and standings, see www.napaneebeaver.ca/2017/11/09/raiders-stats/.