Adam Prudhomme
Editor
A Tod Division first place finish was all but locked up by the Napanee Raiders following their four-point weekend.
Friday at home they picked up a 5-2 win over the Amherstview Jets followed on Saturday by a 4-3 overtime victory in Port Hope.
Blake Aylesworth netted the game winner on Saturday, scoring on a feed from Ben White 1:17 into the extra frame. Marshall McFarland helped get the game to overtime by tying the game at 3-3 with less than two minutes left in regulation.
Napanee trailed 2-0 passed the midway point of the game before Reid Lambert got the visitors on the board at 13:05 into the second period. Payton Gauthier tied the game at 2-2 with a goal 4:40 into the third. That score wouldn’t last long however as Port Hope re-took the lead just over a minute later and held onto that one goal advantage until the final two minutes.
Bailey Maracle earned the win for Napanee with 29 saves while Sam Dingle took the loss, turning away 34 shots.
On Friday night the Raiders picked up a big two points against the second place Jets as the number of regular season games on the schedule dwindles down to single digits.
White and Cameron Krupa each scored for Napanee in the opening frame.
Noah Westwater added another midway through the second period to put the Raiders up 3-0.
The Jets didn’t go away quietly as Boden White and Josh Kudo each scored within a five-minute span to cut the lead to one. Napanee was able to quiet the comeback from there however as Gauthier scored in the final seconds of the second period-his first on the season and first of a two goal weekend. Ben Carter tacked on a huge insurance goal three minutes into the third. That would account for the final goal of the game as the Raiders wrapped up the 5-2 win.
Maracle made 25 saves for the win while Alex Chu took the loss with 35 saves on 40 shots.
With their four points the Raiders now have 59 on the season with eight games left to play, while the Jets have 42 points with also just eight left to play, making a first place finish for the Jets no longer possible.
Only the third place Picton Pirates, who are 26 points back (33 total) of Napanee with 14 games left to play, remain mathematically alive for a possible top-seed finish. Frankford and Port Hope are out of the running, both deadlocked in fourth, both with 31 points, though the Huskies have played 31 games, the Panthers 32. The Campbellford Rebels picked up a 2-1 win over Frankford this week but sport just six points on the season in 31 played.
The Raiders will kick off the February portion of their schedule by hosting the Frankford Huskies at the SPC on Friday night. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. That’ll be their only action of the week, not returning to the ice until Feb. 10 when they host the Picton Pirates at the SPC for another 7:30 p.m. start.