Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
The Napanee Raiders continued their Herculean playoff pace at home Wednesday night, posting a dominate 6-2 victory over the Alliston Hornets in Game 1 of the Schmalz Cup semifinals.
Napanee controlled the play for much of the first two periods, outshooting the Hornets 34-8. Liam Mroueh put the Raiders up 1-0 just 3:40 minutes into the game with help from Dayton Kent and Ryan Casselman.
Greg Powles and Casselman each scored in the second to build a 3-0 lead heading into the final intermission.
Napanee quickly put the game out of reach in the third as Reid Humphrey and Justynn Steven each recorded a goal within the opening two minutes. Steven added another just passed the 10 minute mark to push the lead to 6-0.
The Hornets showed a bit of fight in the final half of the period as Alex Sebestyen put the visitors on the board at 14:37. Ryan McReynolds scored a power-play goal in the final minute to make it 6-2.
All told the Raiders outshot the Hornets 42-17 on the night. Nicholas Nabuurs continued his unbeaten streak in the playoffs with 15 saves, improving to 9-0. Tyler Ryan took the loss for the Hornets.
With the win the Raiders remain perfect in the postseason at 13-0, and move to just seven wins away from their first provincial title since 1993. The Hornets will look to slow down the juggernaut Raiders tomorrow night when the best-of-seven semifinals series shifts to Alliston. Puck drop is 8 p.m.
Game 3 returns to Napanee on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.