The Oakville Blades suffered their first loss of the 2015-2016 OJHL season on Saturday, dropping an 8-2 decision to the Georgetown Raiders.
Georgetown pleased the home crowd very early on in the contest. Richard Court got things started when he passed the puck over to former Blade Zach Dybowski, who tipped in the puck from the slot past Brendan McGlynn for the 1-0 lead early in the contest.
Oakville would get a few chances at the other end, particularly Eric Holland's one-timer attempt on the power-play with five minutes remaining in the first, but Georgetown would find themselves with the 4-0 lead at the end of the first. First Jack Jacome doubled up his team's lead with a backhander over McGlynn with 2:04 left in the first. The very next shift, Jack's brother, Brendan scored a very similar goal, giving his team the 3-0 lead. Then, with 24 seconds left in the opening period, Matt Cairns took a wicked shot from far out, finishing the first period with a 4-0 advantage.
McGlynn made a couple of good stops early in the second, but Georgetown made it 5-0 before the period was five minutes old. Daniel Hardie found a way to put his name on the scoresheet, beating out Ian Blacker along the boards to bang the puck over McGlynn's blocker and in.
The Blades finally got something to cheer about. With just over a minute to go in the second, Christian Rajic scored Oakville's first goal of the game for the second day in a row, taking a pass from Jack Ricketts to end Georgetown's shutout. Unfortunately, the very next shift, Hardie scored his second goal of the game after wiring it over McGlynn's arm, restoring Georgetown's five goal lead to make it 6-1 after two periods of play.
Things didn't improve for the Blades, with Georgetown eventually taking the 7-1 lead. This time, Michael Boulshy converted on a pass from Hardie, batting the puck in to the left of the Oakville net to snag the six goal advantage. With five minutes to go, Josh Dickinson picked up a loose rebound at the doorstep, finishing off Georgetown's goal counter with their eighth goal. Oliver Benwell found the back of the net for his first career OJHL goal, but Georgetown would still hold on for the 8-2 win.
Oakville will meet Georgetown again this coming Friday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, the Blades home opener. The game is set for 7:30pm, hope to see you there!