CDDHS Royals drop game in third period

December 3, 2014 · 0 Comments

The Centre Dufferin District High School Royals hockey team gave up a third period lead in Friday’s (Nov. 28) home game against the St. James Lions to leave with a 7–4 loss in their fifth game of the season.
The Royals started out strong and were leading 4–1 in the second period.
St. James battled back notching a second goal at the midway mark in the second period on a slap shot from just inside the blue line that found its way through the crowd to the back of the Royals net.
The Royals saw their two goal lead evaporate in the third period when the St. James team turned their game up a notch and went heavily on the offence beginning with a goal at :28 seconds into the final period of play.
From there, the Royals were scrambling to clear their zone.
A second St. James third period goal barely dribbled across the goal line – but it was enough to make it count and tie the game at four with half a frame remaining.
The Lions delivered the coup de grace when they notched three quick goals midway through the period to take a 7–3 lead. Centre Dufferin answered on one, scoring with 3:57 remaining on the clock but there wasn’t enough time to get back in the game.
“We came out pretty hard, we knew this was a good team,” Said Royals coach Erik Zeidler. “We really wanted to focus on playing a good defensive game. In the first and second we were doing that and the chances were coming. We kind of broke down a little bit in the second and third.”
The squad currently has one win behind them this season.
“We’ve got a really young team,” Zeidler said. “We’ve got a lot of grade nines and tens on the team so we’re still coming together. It’s taking a while, learning the new systems. We did a good job at the beginning of the game and broke down a little near the end.”
Over all Centre Welling District High School and Orangeville District Secondary School are tied for the lead in the Division 4 / 10 standings. Both of those teams are undefeated after four games.
The Royals next home game is scheduled for Tuesday, December 9, when they host Centre Wellington at the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex.
That game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

By Brian Lockhart