Adam Prudhomme
Editor
The Napanee Raiders were on both sides of a blowout this weekend as they split a home-and-away exhibition series with the North Kawartha Knights, winning 7-0 at home Friday before falling 7-1 on the road Sunday.
Napanee finishes the pre-season with a 2-2 record and now get set to open the PJHL Junior C hockey season Friday night when they welcome the Amherstview Jets to the SPC for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.
Marshall McFarland had Napanee’s lone goal on Sunday night, his fourth of the pre-season, with assists from Ben Carter and Noah Jacobsen on the power-play. That goal came at the 6:13 mark of the second with the Raiders trailing 4-0 at the time and they wouldn’t get any closer from there. Hunter Coony scored twice for the Knights while Jack Kauffeldt, Evan Brault, Keagan Walton, Kieran Flynn and Marshall Flynn each scored once for the home team.
Bailey Maracle drew the start for Napanee and was charged with six goals on 32 shots. He gave way to Alex Zamuner midway through the game, who finished with 11 saves on 12 shots.
Friday night at home was a much different story for the Raiders as they cruised to an easy 7-0 win. Zamuner earned the shutout, facing just 15 shots on the night.
Blake Aylesworth and Connor Brooks scored twice for Napanee while Reid Lambert, Ben Carter and Maverick Labrie each had one.
Brooks opened the scoring 13:30 into the first period with a power-play goal from Lambert and Nicholas Goosney. Napanee continued to pressure the entire game and blew it open with four in the third period.
The Raiders finished the game with 43 shots while converting on two of their five power-play opportunities.
The pre-season now wrapped up, the games will now start to count in the standings, starting Friday night when Amherstview comes to town.
The Jets had two tune-up games to prepare for the season-both with the Picton Pirates. The Pirates took the first meeting 4-1 at the WJ Henderson Arena before the Jets rebounded with a 5-2 win in Wellington on Sept. 8.
Samuel Closs earned the win for Amherstview, stopping 25 of 27. Boden White and Andrew White each lit the lamp twice while Caden Kekewich scored once.
The Jets will have plenty of experience with pre-game season opening ceremonies by the end of the week. Following Friday’s season opener the Jets will have their home opener on Sunday when they take on the Campbellford Rebels at the WJ Henderson Arena at 7:30 p.m. On Thursday they’re back on the road to face the Picton Pirates for the Pirates’ home opener.
Napanee meanwhile will be much less busy the opening week as they have a full week off between games. Following Friday’s season opener they’re back at home Sept. 23 to take on the Frankford Huskies for a 7:30 start time. On Sept. 23 the Raiders hit the road for the first time, travelling to Amherstview for a date with the Jets.