The Nepean Raiders tried to dig themselves out of a two-goal hole, but the Smiths Falls Bears held on for a 5-4 victory.
Smiths Falls made the score 5-3 on a goal by Nicolas Coates at 15:02 in the third period, and Nepean got as close as 5-4 when Rory Garlasco scored 19:18 into the third period.
The Bears got the win on the strength of a great game by Chris MacMillan, who had two goals and two assists. MacMillan scored the first of his two goals at 12:43 into the second period to make the score 2-2. Jared Henry picked up the assist. MacMillan’s next tally made the score 4-3 Smiths Falls with 6:16 left in the third period. Smiths Falls had gained a power play chance when Jody Sullivan was whistled for game misconduct. Matthew Kenney provided the assist.
The Bears kept the Raiders’ goalie busy throughout the game, and Francis Marotte made 40 saves on 45 shots. Team could not crack Nepean’s penalty kill and was held to two power play goals while having 10 opportunities to play with the man advantage.
Smiths Falls additionally got points from John Curran, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. Nathan Foster also scored for Smiths Falls. More assists for Smiths Falls came via Corey Caruso and Michael McKenney, who contributed one each.
The Raiders’ offense rang up 33 shots on Smiths Falls’ net. Nepean was forced to rely heavily on their penalty kill unit throughout the game, as it racked up 23 penalty minutes.
The Raiders were helped by Derek Varrin, who finished with one goal. Varrin scored 15:22 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Nepean. Corey Tam assisted on the tally. Nepean also got points from Sullivan, who also had one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Nepean also got a goal from Kari Belec as well. Other players who recorded assists for Nepean were Martin Lavallee, who had one and Josh Zizek, who had two.
Evan DeBrouwer rejected 29 shots on goal for the Bears. Smiths Falls incurred 10 minutes in penalty time with five minors. Nepean registered one goal on four power play opportunities. The Raiders ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Sullivan was ejected from the game.
