November 25, 2021 · 0 Comments
The Alliston Hornets winning streak ended on Saturday night, November 20, when they took a loss in a road game against the Penetang Kings.
It was payback for the Kings who lost to Alliston the previous week in a 5-2 game on Hornets home ice.
The Hornets hosted the Huntsville Otters on Friday night, November 19, at the New Tecumseth Recreation Complex in a game that turned into a turkey shoot.
Alliston was leading 3-0 after the first period on goals from Jakob Power, Duncan Grube, and Jonathan Callega.
The squad relaxed a bit when the they returned for the second period, but after head coach Travis Chapman told them to get moving, they put the pressure back on and scored four for the period.
The Alliston goals came from Cole Turcotte, Duncan Grube, Connor Hiles, and Jakob Power.
Grube got his third of the game at 2:51 into the third period to make it an 8 – 0 game.
Nathan Smilsky scored to make it a 9 – 0 game.
Alliston goalie Curtis McMillan got robbed of the shutout on a blooper goal that put Huntsville on the scoreboard.
Smilsky got his second of the night late in the frame to end the game 10-1 for the Hornets.
“We came out a bit sloppy in the first, but in the second and third we started getting the pucks deep,” said Hornets forward Duncan Grube, after Friday’s game. “For a moment in the second we let up the gas, but we picked it back up. We’ve got a fast group of forwards so we were getting the pucks deep and chasing after them.”
The trip to Penetang was the second time the Hornets faced the Kings in a week.
“That’s the goal, we want to go into every game and hammer them,” Duncan said. “It’s tough to play in their small arena, but we go in with the right mentality.”
The Penetang arena is one of the smallest in the League which means visiting teams have to adjust for the short passes and different style of play.
At the end of the second period in Penetang, the Kings were leading 2-0 after shutting down the Hornets in both frames.
Alliston’s Nathan Smilsky scored at 1:10 into the third period to put the Hornets on the scoreboard.
Three more Penetang third period goals put the Hornets down 5-1 with over half a period remaining.
The Hornets made an outstanding comeback effort with the limited remaining time.
They managed to score three goals in just over two minutes to bring the score to 5-4 and bring the squad within reach of tying it up.
The Alliston goals came from Jakob Power, Rhys Brown, and Duncan Grube.
The squad put out a strong effort in the two and a-half remaining minutes but couldn’t score and had to settle for a 5-4 loss.
After the weekend the Hornets have a 9-6 record and 19 points. They remain in fourth place in the standings
The Stayner Siskins are holding on to first place in the League followed by the Orillia Terriers and the Schomberg Cougars.
The Hornets will return to home ice at the NTRC this Friday, November 26, to host the Midland Flyers.
Game time is 7:30 p.m.
By Brian Lockhart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter