Scott Ellis - The Hockey House
Hockey player on ice
The Oakville Blades had a fantastic outing in their second pre-season game of the year, taking down the Burlington Cougars by a score of 6-3 on Sunday afternoon.
It didn't even take a full minute for Clarkson University Drew Worrad to find the back of the net. At the 41 second mark of the game, Josh Kosack sent the puck in front to Worrad, who sent the puck quickly under the glove of Matthew Ceolaro and in for the 1-0 goal.
The Blades played a smart opening period. In fact, after ten minutes of play in the first, Oakville limited the opposition to just one shot on net, a far wrist shot that goaltender Christopher Elliot had no issue with. Oakville's eighth shot proved to be dangerous, as Ethan Nother's wrist shot was too much for Ceolaro to handle, hitting the bar and in for the 2-0 goal.
With five minutes to go in the first frame, Oakville had the 3-0 lead. This time Worrad would return the favour for Kosack, who took the pass in front of the net and jammed it in past the Burlington netminder. The score became 3-0 with most of the game still left to go.
The first half of the second period saw a ton of action. At the eight minute mark, Tyler Rollo jammed in the puck for the 4-0 goal after a trickled chance by Worrad was stopped. Rollo was in the right place at the right time.
Burlington was interested in a stronger second period, and two quick back-to-back goals would help put them back in the game. Just seconds after Rollo's goal, Devon Pierce's shot near the doorstep would give Burlington their first of the game. About 20 seconds after that, Dante Felicetti capitalized on a breakaway after deking out Elliot for the 4-2 goal.
Oakville wasn't willing to back down. With 8:54 left in the period, the Blades were able to take the 5-2 lead after Worrad made a nice wraparound around the net, setting up Nother for his second goal of the game. It was just the second shot of the night for Burlington netminder Fraser Kirk, who made his way into the Cougars net for the remainder of the game.
The Blades played a very solid defensive game in the third, and despite some good chances offensively, the team only was able to find the back of the net. Regardless, it was a beautiful one as Kosack took a wicked wrist shot from the slot that went off the post and in. It was his second goal of the match and the final goal for Oakville. Jordan Peacock would give Burlington their third goal of the game with less than two minutes left. It was still not enough. Oakville finished off the contest with a 6-3 victory for their first win of the pre-season.
Oakville will return to the ice twice more before the regular season gets underway. The next match will be at 8pm on Friday against the Georgetown Raiders at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. The Blades will then face off against Burlington once again in the final tune-up match on Sunday, a 5pm meeting on the road.
