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Jr A Flyers face Georgetown in first round of playoffs

March 3, 2016   ·   0 Comments

It took two periods of overtime to end the Orangeville Junior A Flyers’ final game of the regular season when they hosted the Georgetown Raiders in what would be a precursor to the first round of the Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Saturday (Feb. 27) night game at the Alder Street arena started out well for the Flyers when they scored three unanswered goals in the first period that left the Raiders scrambling.

Travis Brown got the game opener at the 6:25 mark followed by a second Flyers goal from Jarret Woo Sam and a second goal from Brown with a powerplay effort with 19 seconds left of the clock.

Georgetown scored their first goal early in the second.

Brown got his third of the game at the midway mark in the second period giving the Flyers a 4-1 lead with plenty of hockey still to play.

The Raiders were back in the game with two more goals, one on a powerplay, to end the second period with a one goal deficit and one period left to play.

The Flyers saw their lead evaporate when the Georgetown tied the game at just 33 seconds into the final period.

The final frame ended on a 4-4 tie and the teams returned to the ice for a five minute four-on-four OT period. With no goals scored another player was dropped from each team and it was a three-on-three situation for the second overtime period.

The Raiders ended the game with a goal 4:34 into the period to take the game 5-4.

“We wanted to end on a good note. We wanted to win this game just for ourselves psychologically,” Said Flyers head coach Jamie Caruso. “But we know they’re a very good team and are well coached. We had out hands full. I think they got two or three powerplay goals and they have one of the best powerplays in the League so we’ve got to stay out of the box in the playoffs. They’re a tough team to contain. They’re second best in our League for a reason.”

It just happens that the last team the Flyers were scheduled to meet in the regular season are the squad they will be going up against in the first round of the playoffs.

If Saturday night is any indication of what’s to come, the Flyers will be ready to give the Raiders a real challenge come playoffs.

“I thought it was great,” Caruso said of Saturday’s game. “Our team is young.

They are a better team but we went toe to toe, which is what we’re going to have to do next week.”

Game one of the best of seven series was scheduled to get underway in Georgetown on Wednesday (March 2) with results not available at press time.

The Raiders will be coming to the playoffs as the number two team in the OJHL this season with 78 points and a 37-14-3 record.

The Flyers finished the regular season with a 23-29-2 record – a fourth place in the West division and number 17 in the League standings out of 22 teams.

By Brian Lockhart


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