Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Showing no signs of rust after a first round bye, the Napanee Raiders came out roaring in their 4-1 Game 1 victory over the Picton Pirates in the Tod Division semifinals on Tuesday night.
Ben White gave the over 300 Napanee faithful fans gathered inside the SPC something to cheer about early, battling through traffic to score just 52 seconds into the game.
He would add another less than five minutes later with a wrap around, catching Picton goalie Owen Willis sprawling as he attempted to get back to the net after coming out to play the puck. Logan White tacked on another goal in the final seconds of the first to give the Raiders a comfy 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. Napanee outshot the Pirates 17-4 in the first 20 minutes.
Picton played much better in the second but wound up with nothing to show for it despite outshooting the Raiders 10-6.
Soren Zamuner pushed Napanee’s lead to 4-0 early in the third with a power-play tally.
Picton was able to perhaps generate a little momentum for the next game as Jack Dow broke Bailey Maracle’s shutout attempt with a power-play goal with just under four minutes left to play. It would stand as Picton’s lone reason to celebrate on the night.
Maracle finished with 18 saves on the night while Willis took the loss, allowing all four goals on 37 shots. Picton was 1-6 on the power-play while Napanee was 1-2.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series shifts to Picton tonight. Game 3 will go Saturday at the SPC with Game 4 set for Sunday in Picton. If necessary Game 5 would be back in Napanee on Tuesday with Game 6 in Picton on March 31 and a winner-take-all Game 7 on April 1 at the SPC. All games feature a 7:30 p.m. start time.
Meanwhile in the other semifinal bracket the top seeded Amherstview Jets take on the fourth seed Port Hope Panthers. Game 1 of the series got underway last night. Results weren’t known at press time.