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Rookie Evan Brown Shines in First Game, Leads Oakville to 3-1 Win

Oakville Blades on the ice | Scott Ellis
Oakville Blades on the ice | Scott Ellis

The Oakville Blades started off the Halloween weekend with a big 3-1 victory over their local rivals from Mississauga.

The first ten minutes saw some tremendous goaltending by Oakville's Mike Botiz and Mississauga's Tyler Richardson. Botiz in particular had a strong start, making some quick glove saves and lightning fast pad deflections that kept the game tied early. His effort helped benefit the Blades, as Eric Holland found a loose puck just outside the Mississauga crease before spinning and tapping it in, giving the Blades the 1-0 lead.

The first goal of the contest also marked a special moment for newcomer, Evan Brown. Playing in his first career OJHL game, Brown grabbed his first point since the 2013-2014 minor midget season with the Vaughn Kings, after missing the entire 2014-2015 hockey season.

If the Blades needed to convince anybody how good Brown was, he was able to do that all by himself with just over three minutes off the clock in the second. Brown, a native of Oakville, scored his first career OJHL goal after Holland's shot was stopped, with #16 on the doorstep to tap in the goal for the 2-0 goal.

Throughout the game, the Blades did a fantastic job of controlling the offensive flow of the game. With six minutes remaining, Oakville's 50th shot on goal would get stopped by Chargers' star Richardson. Richardson had a strong game that showed his glove hand power to the world. In the end, Richardson made 56 saves.

Oakville's Botiz did a great job of keeping the puck out of the net, but would eventually allowed a goal by Stefano Alonzi with just over two minutes to go in the game. Still, he was good enough to keep Oakville in the lead. After an empty netter by Oakville Blades' Christian Rajic the contest ended on a positive note with 3-1 victory over Mississauga.

With the win, Oakville will look to sweep the weekend on Saturday night with a game against the North York Rangers. Remember, the Blades will have candy out for the Halloween night game, so bring the whole family out! Puck drop is at 7:30pm at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex, hope to see you there!


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