Junior C Vets need a win to stay alive

July 25, 2013 · 0 Comments

The Shelburne Caravaggio IDA Junior C Vets need to win their home game this week to stay alive in their series against the Hamilton Bengals.

Hamilton is currently leading the series 2–1 after wining 5–3 over Shelburne in game three on Sunday (July 21) night in Hamilton.

The series got underway on Tuesday, July 16, with game one in Hamilton and a loss for the Vets that let the Shelburne squad know that this was going to be a tough one.

The Bengals dominated that game shutting out the Vets in the second period and allowing only one goal from Brett Snell in the third period.

The return to Shelburne for game two on Friday, July 19, saw the Vets dig deep and pull out a 7–6 win in overtime when Charlie McCannell scored the only OT goal on an unassisted effort at 5:51 into the extra period.

First period Vets goals came from Quinn Fraser on a powerplay, and Darren Mick on a short handed effort.

Shelburne’s Connor Early scored another short handed goal in the second period followed by a second Vets goal from Doug Derbyshire with :51 seconds left in the period.

After coming within reach of a tie in the third period on a goal from Brett Snell, the Vets benched pulled the goal and went with the extra attacker.

The strategy worked when Quinn Fraser scored his second of the match to tie the game at six with :27 seconds left on the clock.

The win made it an even series and the teams returned to Hamilton for game three on Sunday night.

In what turned out to be a low scoring game, the Vets opened the scoring early in the first period on a goal from Charlie McCannell.

The Bengals tied it up and went ahead by one but the Shelburne response turned in two more goals by the time the buzzer sounded to end the first frame with the Vets leading 3-1.

With no Vets goals in the second period and a pair from Hamilton, the pressure was on the Shelburne squad going into the final twenty minutes, but the clock ran out before they could get in the game.

The teams will return to the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex on Wednesday, July 24, for game four of the series.

The Vets will have to win this game to stay alive – a loss means they are done for the season.

Results of Wednesday’s game were not available at press time.

By Brian Lockhart