Ronald Zajac – Recorder & Times
The Brockville Braves stayed in the fight and outshot the Kemptville 73s by a wide margin, but ultimately fell short in a fast-paced contest on Friday night.
Despite a lot of time in the opposing end and the beginnings of a late-game rally the Braves fell 3-2 in front of 550 at the Memorial Centre.
The 73s got on the board early with Ashton Fry scoring at 1:38 in the first period, assisted by Garrett Meyer and Jacob Thousand. The trio returned with eight seconds left in the period, with Meyer getting another past Braves netminder Nick Wiencek, with the help of Thousand and Fry.
The Braves kept up the pressure and threatened repeatedly in the second but did not find a way to score until early in the third period, when Mike McArthur took advantage of a power play, assisted by Jordi Jefferson at 2:18.
The 73s answered just over two minutes later with a goal by Hunter Fraser (Fry, Thousand) at 4:33.
With the clock ticking in the final minute the Braves pulled Wiencek and brought it to within one with McArthur’s second of the night (Gilmour, Jefferson) at 19:28.
The tense final seconds saw a pileup in the Kemptville net that momentarily felled exhausted 73s goalie Nick Bond, who got up slowly after a few words with trainer Ashley Hill and completed the game.
No one could blame Bond for being tired; he kept the 73s in the lead, completing 39 saves on 41 shots, compared to 21 on 24 by Wiencek.
Fry, McArthur and Bond were the three stars. The Braves get to rest for a week before hosting the Kanata Lasers on Friday, Feb. 2.
Original Story at Recorder.ca
