Sports

Hornets bounce back in game against Penetang

March 3, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The Alliston Hornets now have 56 points after winning both of this past week’s games and are five points ahead of the Schomberg Cougars but 10 points behind the Stayner Siskins.

That leaves them in a solid second place in the Carruthers Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League with two games left on the regular season schedule.

The first game of the week on Friday, Feb. 17, had the Penetang Kings play in Alliston.

That game took a wild turn when the Kings scored three unanswered goals in the second period to take a 4-2 lead.

Penetang opened the scoring five minutes into the first period.

The Hornets responded with Will Millington and Mark Coish scoring to give Alliston a 2-1 lead.

The second period saw the Kings open things up when they scored three times in a row for a two-goal lead as the Hornets failed to find the back of the net. 

With one period left to go, the Hornets turned it up a notch in the third and tied it up on two goals from Jacob English, then took the lead when Jack Micone scored at 16:46 into the period.

Connor Hiles got the final empty netter to seal the deal with eight seconds remaining on the clock to give the Hornets a 6-4 win.

The Penetang squad put out a huge effort in the game in an attempt to get two points. The Kings are in last place – two points behind the Midland Flyers – and won’t make the playoffs unless they can overtake Midland in their last few games.

“In the second period we kind of let off the gas and let them back into the game,” said Hornets forward Jack Micone. “Their goalie really helped them a lot, he was saving all the shots we were throwing at him. We’re feeling really confident. Getting the two points tonight was really nice, we really needed it to lock in second place, which makes us more comfortable playing against Schomberg, but that’s no reason to step back, let off the gas.”

The second game of the week had the Schomberg Cougars in town. It was a make-up game for a postponed event from earlier in the season.

Alliston’s Ben Taylor opened the scoring midway in the first period.

After a scoreless second period, the teams returned for the third period in a hard-fought battle to take control of the game.

Schomberg tied it up at 3:43 into the third.

Alliston forward Cole Turcotte got the go-ahead goal at 11:00.

With 1:31 left on the clock, Andrew Maltby got some insurance when he scored to give the Hornets a 3-1 lead.

The final goal of the night came from Adam Hoppe with 23 seconds left on the clock to give the Hornets a 4-1 win.

The Hornets will be in Stayner on Thursday, Feb. 23, to take on the Siskins.

They return to home ice at the NTRC on Friday, Feb. 24, for their final regular season game and will host the Huntsville Otters.

Game time is 7:30 p.m.

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