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Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Southpoint Sun - 21
Flyers score back-to-back wins over Nats, Maroons
By C. Scott Holland Last Wednesday and Thursday, the Flyers ended a rather busy week by playing the London Nationals and then returning home to host the Chatham Maroons. The return of Connor MacPherson to Leamington’s lineup Wednesday helped boost the offense as the Flyers rallied to beat London 5-4 in overtime, then topped Chatham at home 3-1 in front of 975 fans. The Flyers played well against the Nats and took a slim one-goal lead before London used two powerplay opportunities and added two other goals in the second for a 4-3 lead heading into the final stanza. But the Nationals suddenly faced a very tough Flyers’ defense in the third which limited the Nats to only two shots on starter Bryce Walcarius. Leamington knotted the contest on Connor MacPherson’s second of the night early in the third and pressured the Nats the rest of the way. The Flyers barely missed the winning goal late in the third when a Ryan MacPherson shot bounced off the crossbar. Most of the
Flyers’ fireworks belonged to Connor MacPherson, who in his return after being suspended for two contests notched a hattrick. Nick Mahy and Cody Brekke added one goal apiece. Starter Bryce Walcarius stopped 20 of 24 shots for the victory. The play of the game was the Flyers’ overtime winning goal. Fans were barely in their seats when Ryan MacPherson won the opening faceoff and slid the puck to Ryan Clark. Clark fed Connor MacPherson, who rushed down the left lane and planted the puck under Nats goalie Aidan Beery’s glove. The goal came just 17 seconds into the OT. Thursday night back at home, the Flyers topped the feisty Chatham Maroons 3-1. Walcarius started in net once again and allowed one goal on 20 shots. Chatham’s lineup was missing several regulars and included four call-ups, including goalie Owen Lemieux, who fared well, stopping 27 of the 30 Flyers’ shots that came his way. The Flyers defense went to work early, allowing
the visitors only four shots in the first and five in the second. With Connor MacPherson in the penalty box, Gabe Piccolo stole the puck off a Chatham player at the left point and raced alone down the rink before he unleashed a drive that sailed past Lemieux. The shorthanded effort gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead. At 17:03, while on a powerplay, Connor MacPherson and Koen Taves connected with Ryan MacPherson, whose left side blast made it 2-0. Early in the third, a bit of nastiness erupted as Kale Couvillion was checked from behind while in the offensive zone. In retaliation, he grabbed a Chatham player suspected of hitting him and a brawl erupted. The Maroons scored their lone goal on a powerplay resulting from the dust-up. Will Van Sumeren pumped call-up Kyle Greene’s pass into the Chatham net near the midway point of the third to complete the score. Next game is Thurs. Nov. 10 vs Komoka Kings at 7:10 p.m.
Sharks lose scoring touch despite strong work ethic
By Greg Coulter It is said that the harder you work the luckier you’ll get. At the moment, nothing could be further from the truth for the Wheatley Omstead
Sharks. After racking up 10 goals six games ago, the Sharks — missing a couple of key players — managed to suffer one shutout and endure a
streak of five one-goal games. Their defensive play has remained solid, and the offence is consistently firing 35 plus shots per game, but the scoring has
Braeden Gray is congratulated by his teammates after firing his first goal of the season on a blast from the point against Lakeshore. The tally also marked the first Sharks goal in over 110 minutes. Despite a lack of scoring the Sharks continue to battle hard and offer up entertaining hockey. SUN photo by Greg Coulter
dried up quicker than the Mississippi River. Recent losses included 5-1 to Mooretown, 1-0 against Blenheim and identical 3-1 outcomes to Essex, Lakeshore and Amherstburg. Their hard work did pay off last week at home against Lakeshore as fans witnessed perhaps the most impressive Sharks outing in recent years. They completely dominated the defending Ontario champs, holding a larger territorial advantage in play en route to a 36-20 shot barrage. While goal scoring has been sparse, it has been evenly spread across the lineup. Sylvain Lessard has fired twice with Braeden Gray, Matt Carvalho, Kyle Green and Jaqwan Simmonds adding sin-
gles. Goaltending duties have been handled by Ethan Handley, Cristian Green and most recently Jaxon Drysdale. Coach Josh Carnevale is mystified with the lack of scoring. “We’re getting tons of chances, but just can’t find the back of the net
right now,” he said. “We’re working hard and not playing bad. Just need some puck luck” The Sharks won’t play a home game on November 9 as they visit Wallaceburg, while the two teams have a Wheatley return match on the 16th.
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