Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
A pair of crooked number goal outbursts kept the Napanee Raiders on their historic point pace this weekend, topping the visiting Clarington Eagles 6-1 on Friday before dismantling the Campbellford Rebels 13-1 on the road Saturday.
Friday’s game was actually tightly contested through 40 minutes, with only Napanee’s Devon King’s first period goal standing as the difference heading into the final frame.
King doubled the lead early in the third with a power-play goal, igniting what would be a five goal period for the home team. Reid Humphrey added another at the 8:51 mark.
Clarington’s Nicholas Ainsworth broke the shutout with a power-play goal at 11:47, cutting the deficit to 3-1 and giving the Eagles a fighting chance. It was short-lived however as Austin Labelle restored the three goal advantage less than a minute later. Evan Foley and Keegan Wayte each tacked on a goal just a few seconds apart from one another to secure the 6-1 victory.
Bailey Maracle earned the win, stopping 25 of 26 Eagle shots. Curtis Laviolette, who allowed just one goal over the first 23 shots he faced, wore down in the third and allowed five of 15 to find the twine.
Napanee made good on just one of their nine power-plays, while Clarington was 1-5 on their man-advantages.
Napanee’s Curtis Marrison (left) moves the puck up the ice. Photo by Adam Bramburger.
The next night in Campbellford the Raiders cruised to their 13-1 victory.
Humphrey got the scoring started with a power-play tally 8:10 into the game. The Rebels’ Logan Haug tied it at 11:48, which only seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the Raiders’ top guns, as they rattled off 12 straight unanswered.
King, Bailey Matthews and Labelle each had one to close out the first. Ryan Casselman and Justynn Steven each scored a pair in the second while Brodie Maracle, Luke Joseph and Matthew Panetta had singles.
Humphrey and Jacob Gilbert each potted a goal in the third to close out the scoring. Napanee was 2-3 on the power-play while Campbellford was 0-2.
Nicholas Nabuurs had a quiet night in the Raider net, facing just 13 total shots. Meanwhile down at the other end the Raiders blasted 61 shots at the combo of Alex Ward (who allowed eight goals), and Dawson Mclaughlin who gave up the other five.
With Saturday’s win the Raiders are now 18-1-1 through their first 20 games. They’ll reach the halfway mark of their 44 game season this weekend when they host the Picton Pirates on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop at the SPC followed by a road trip to Lakefield on Saturday.
The Raiders’ current 17 game unbeaten streak could be tested this weekend as both the Pirates and Lakefield Chiefs sit second in their respective Tod and Orr Divisions. The Chiefs, who are also the reigning Schmalz Cup champions, are 15-5-0-1 on the season.
In the Tod Division, Napanee enters Friday’s game with an eight point lead over the second place 14-7-0-1 Pirates, who have also played two more games than Napanee. Amherstview is a distant third at 15 points back of Napanee with a record of 10-9-2. Gananoque is 7-12-1-1, Port Hope 5-15-0-1- and the Rebels dropped to 1-20-0-1.
The Raiders are on pace to eclipse last season’s record setting 37-2-1 finish, which gave them 75 points in a 40 game season.