The Smiths Falls Midget AAA Bears tried to dig themselves out of a three-goal hole, but the Kanata Midget AAA Lasers held on for a 5-3 victory.
Kanata Midget AAA made the score 5-2 on a goal by Brian Bygrave at 14:30 in the third period, and Smiths Falls Midget AAA got as close as 5-3 when Willem Larsen scored 19:09 into the third period.
The Lasers got the win thanks to a great game by Luca Nocita, who had two goals and two assists. Nocita scored the first of his two goals at 9:40 into the second period to make the score 1-1. Bygrave provided the assist. Nocita’s next tally made the score 2-1 Kanata Midget AAA with 5:53 left in the second period. Bygrave assisted on the tally.
Kanata Midget AAA forced Bears’ goaltenders to work between the pipes, launching 38 shots and forcing 33 saves. Alex Zoutis made 32 stops and Kyle Renaud made one. The Lasers were forced to rely heavily on their penalty kill unit throughout the game, as they racked up 14 penalty minutes.
Kanata Midget AAA also got points from David Silye, who also registered one goal and three assists and Bygrave, who also had one goal and two assists. Ross Campbell also scored for Kanata Midget AAA. More assists for Kanata Midget AAA came via Tyler Orban, Felix Tourigny, and Cade Townend, who contributed one each.
The Bears excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in three chances. Smiths Falls Midget AAA gave up more goals than its normal season average. The Bears give up 2.5 goals per game. Smiths Falls Midget AAA got an offensive boost from its blueliners, who contributed two goals during the game.
The Bears were helped by Connor Drost, who registered one goal. Drost scored on the power play 5:27 into the second period to make the score 1-0 Smiths Falls Midget AAA. An interference penalty on Townend had put Smiths Falls Midget AAA on the power play. Blake Kettyle provided the assist. Smiths Falls Midget AAA additionally got points from Ethan Coltart, who also tallied one goal and one assist. In addition, Smiths Falls Midget AAA received assists from Brock Boisclair, who had one and Matthew Bidin, who had two.
Kanata Midget AAA’s Cameron Scott stopped 17 shots out of the 20 that he faced. The Bears totaled 19 minutes in penalty time with two minors and one major and went 1-for-6 on the power play. For Smiths Falls Midget AAA, Dylan McMahon was ejected from the game.
