A depleted Owen Sound
Canadian Tire Jr. Attack Tyke squad held on for a 3-2 win over the visiting
Grand Valley Novice Twisters on Friday night at the Bayshore Community Centre.
Maddox Burgess led the way offensively for Owen Sound with a goal and an assist. Hunter Stewart and Nolan Edmonstone also scored while Jaren Pirie had one assist.
Defenceman Lucas McManaman, who shone all night in the defensive zone, earned the Hardest Working Player of the Game and goaltenders Ryan Cooke and Alyssa Barnard were both stellar between the pipes for the Jr. Attack, who improved to 4-6 in Georgian Bay Minor Hockey League play.
“Once again our goaltenders were almost unbeatable and they gave us a chance to win,” said head coach Rick Corbett, whose Jr. Attack found themselves with a short bench due to forward Bennett Carr and defenceman Keltan Berner both going down with the flu prior to puck drop. “Although we had a few kids missing, and a few more still getting over the flu, we played with pretty good energy and did a great job of passing the puck and finding scoring chances.”
Stewart opened the scoring for Owen Sound when he put the finishing touch on a pass from Pirie on a two-on-one with just over three minutes expired.
Edmonstone then extended Owen Sound’s lead to 2-0 at 3:43 of the second frame when he buried a rebound off a Burgess shot that rang off the post and trickled along the goal line.
Burgess then supplied the Tykes with a comfortable three-goal advantage on a spectacular solo effort at the 5:38 mark of the third period. The centreman won the face-off to the right of his goaltender Barnard and skated the length of the ice untouched, before deking left to right and tucking it in.
The Twisters’ Carter Benn, however, would make things interesting in the late stages of the third period. Benn erased the shutout bid when he cut Grand Valley's deficit to only two with 8:17 to play. Then, with Burgess off for tripping and the Twisters electing to pull their goalie for the extra attacker, Benn notched his second tally of the contest on the six-on-four advantage with only 18 seconds left on the clock.
Grand Valley went 1 for 2 with the power play while Owen Sound was held scoreless on three opportunities.
The Tykes (4-6) will seek back-to-back wins when they welcome the Honeywood Novice Hurricanes (2-2-3) to the Bayshore Community Centre on Saturday. Game time is 2:30 p.m.