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 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 singles.

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.

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.