A sluggish start in
Creemore on Friday night proved costly for the Owen Sound Jr. Attack Canadian Tire Tykes as
they had their six-game unbeaten streak come to a halt in a 3-2
loss to the Valley Hawks.
“We had a slow start to the game, which led to us falling behind 2-0 early,” said Jr. Attack head coach Rob Martin, whose troops hadn’t suffered a loss since mid-October. “But once we found our legs we started taking the play to them.”
Brett Warrilow and Kashias Keeshig each scored for Owen Sound while Bryce Martin, Cody Cox and Jaren Pirie chipped in with assists.
Tykes netminder Noah Lundgren played spectacular in a losing cause.
“At times we stood around too much and let them bring the play to us,” Martin said, “but when we kept our feet moving and took their time and space away we were able to carry the play.”
Trailing 2-0, Warrilow cut Creemore’s lead in half at the five-minute mark of the first period when he accepted a cross-ice pass from Martin, broke in alone and fired a wrist shot past the Creemore goaltender.
The Valley Hawks would strike back to regain their two-goal advantage in the second frame.
However, the never-say-die Tykes pulled back within one yet again when Keeshig found the back of the net with just over 11 minutes remaining in the third period. Cox and Pirie contributed the helpers.
Down 3-2 and pushing for the equalizer, the Jr. Attack came close to tying the game in the late stages while on the man advantage and with their goaltender pulled for an extra attacker, but to no avail.
“It was an exciting finish… the kids almost tied it,” said Martin.
The Canadian Tire Tykes (5-4-2) return home on Sunday to host the Flesherton Golden Hawks (6-2) in the first meeting of the season between the two teams. Puck drop at the Bayshore Community Centre is scheduled for noon.