Sharks sweep Admirals with decisive win

By Greg Coulter

The Wheatley Omstead Sharks combined a ferocious forecheck, a stifling defence and rock-solid goaltending to sweep their opening round playoff against Amherstburg.

This sets the stage for a rematch of last year’s semifinals against Lakeshore who quickly dis- posed of Dresden.

The Sharks struck first in each game and only trailed for a total of 11 minutes in the first period of the series. They never trailed at the end of any period.

They opened at home with a 7-0 shutout, 24 hours later a 42 save performance by Ethan Handley secured a 5-2 away win.

Saturday night at home, Amherstburg refused to quit and twice fought back from two goal deficits only to surrender two third period goals, suffering a 6-5 setback.

The final blow came Sunday night as the Sharks turned up the heat in the final two periods and closed out the series with a 6-2 victory.

Braedon Caetano, the PJHL January player of the month led all scorers with three goals and six assists. Kyle Greene added five goals and one assist including a natural hattrick in game three. Rookie Jak Thiessen and captain Matt Carvalho lit the lamp four times, adding one and two assists each. Kristian Pelling with two goals and one assist and Devin St. Pierre with two goals also contributed. Single goals were notched by Sylvain Lessard plus five assists, Shannon Olson plus five assists, and Blake McNally plus four helpers. The defence core holding down the blue line also chipped in with 14 assists.

Coach Josh Carnevale credits his players for “digging in and tightening up our game after game one. Amherstburg pushed us in the next three games but we were able to step up to another level when we needed to,” he said. “Looking ahead, Lakeshore will be ready to defend their Schmaltz Cup and we are looking for redemption from last year’s tough series loss in six games. We’ll be ready for a battle.”

Teams are waiting on Blenheim/Mooretown to finish so the next round schedule was not available at press time. Keep up to date on the Sharks Facebook page.

Sharks goaltender Ethan Handley readies himself for a scoring attempt as defenceman Luka Milosevic clears the front of the net in game one of the playoffs against Amherstburg. Handley handled 33 shots handily as the Sharks posted a dominating 7-0 home ice victory. SUN photo by Greg Coulter