Adam Prudhomme
Editor
A season that saw just about everything go right for the Napanee Raiders is on the verge of turning into a nightmare as they find themselves down 2-0 in their best-of-seven semifinal series.
Napanee dropped its second game in as many nights on Wednesday, falling 4-2 on the road to the Port Hope Panthers.
The Raiders are still searching for their first lead of the series, this time falling behind 3-0 before mounting an ill-fated comeback attempt.
Port Hope built that lead early in the second period with three goals in a little over four minutes off the sticks of Christopher Brydges, Sidney Wakely and Oz Paziuk.
Down but not out, Napanee’s offense showed some signs of life as Michael Patrick and Blake Aylesworth each scored at 8:08 and 11:37 of the second period respectively, the latter coming while the Raiders were short-handed.
Napanee had a golden opportunity to tie it when Marshall McFarland was awarded a penalty shot in the final three minutes of the frame, but he was denied by Panthers goalie Joseph Clark.
The Panthers defense shutdown the Raider offense over the final 20 minutes while Cole Kimble iced the win with an empty net goal with a little over a minute and a half remaining.
Clark finished with 32 saves on the night, picking up his second straight win, limiting the league’s top offense to just three goals through the series thus far. Bailey Maracle took the loss, allowing three of the four goals on 32 shots.
Napanee will look to try to right the ship in a hurry when they host the Panthers for Game 3 at the SPC on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
Meanwhile the Amherstview Jets got their series off to a strong start, blanking the Picton Pirates 3-0 in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series. Game 2 goes tomorrow night in Picton.