Adam Prudhomme
Editor
For a second week in a row the Tod Division’s top teams delivered a thrilling 60 minutes of hockey as the first place Napanee Raiders defeated the second place Picton Pirates 4-2 at the SPC on Friday night.
Friday’s win, coupled with a 3-0 shutout over Port Hope on the road Saturday, keeps the Raiders unbeaten in eight games to open the season.
The Pirates made the Raiders grind out the victory, just as they did a week earlier in Picton when Napanee held on for the 3-2 win on Oct. 14.
Friday’s tilt in Napanee was much the same as an empty-net goal with 11 seconds left in game made for a somewhat deceiving final score.
Chris Edwards got the Raiders on the board early, besting Picton’s Tyler Hayes 1:45 into the game.
Jack Dow answered for the visitors at 7:06 to make it 1-1, a score that held going into the first intermission.
Napanee again wasted no time scoring in the middle frame as Isaac Brown lit the lamp just 19 seconds after the period-opening draw. Soren Zamuner doubled the lead at 9:12 on the power-play.
Picton’s Nate Boomhower got one back in the final seconds of the period to set up a tense finish, trimming the deficit to 3-2.
Picton’s Cole Lavender delivers a big hit against Napanee’s Reid Lambert. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
That score held for nearly the entire period before Napanee’s Beckett Palmer-Stephen iced the win with an empty-net goal. Mitch Bown earned the win for Napanee, turning away 20 shots. Hayes finished the night with 21 saves.
The Raiders limited the Pirates chances with disciplined hockey, drawing just four minutes worth of penalties compared to 16 minutes for Picton on four infractions. Napanee also found a way to slow down Picton’s top sniper in Landon McLellan, who was held pointless for the first time all season. Coming into Friday’s game he had scored two goals in each of his first four games and then picked up an assist the night before heading into Napanee.
On Saturday the Raiders made their first trip to Port Hope on the season, earning their second consecutive shutout over the Panthers. Bown was outstanding once again, stopping all 30 shots he saw for the win.
Matthew Poole opened the scoring with his first of the season five minutes into the middle frame. Matthew Sheehy added another a minute and a half later to push the lead to 2-0.
Napanee wouldn’t score again until Ben Carter tallied just less than two minutes to go in the third.
Port Hope outshot the visitors 30-24 on the night, but was unable to solve Bown for the second week in a row.
Napanee’s two wins gave them 16 points on the season, placing them eight points ahead of the Amherstview Jets (4-2) and Pirates (4-3). The Campbellford Rebels are fourth at 3-4 (six points). Of note, the three wins for the Rebels represent one more victory than their previous three seasons combined.
The Panthers are fifth at 2-4-1 (five) and the Frankford Huskies are still winless in seven games, but did pick up a point with an overtime loss.
Napanee will host the new look Rebels at the SPC on Friday night for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop. In their previous meeting on Oct. 9 the Rebels held a 1-0 lead after the first before the Raiders rallied for five unanswered goals in a 7-2 win.
On Saturday the Raiders will close out the month of October with their first trip to Frankford to face the Huskies. Puck drop is that one is 7:50 p.m.