Haliburton County Huskies head coach Ryan Ramsay believes his team has turned a corner after three wins in four days last week, keeping the hometown team in contention for a playoff spot.
The blue and white recorded a 6-1 win over the Brantford 99ers on the road Nov. 30, before a herculean effort Dec. 1 saw them topple the second-place Wellington Dukes 3-1. They rounded out their perfect weekend with a 2-1 win on home ice Dec. 3 against the Stouffville Spirit.
“I was really impressed with the effort, and the maturity we displayed, especially against Wellington. That’s the first time we’ve ever won there, so that was a big one for us,” Ramsay said.
Logan Kennedy backstopped the Huskies to a comfortable victory in Brantford. Nicholas Lamont opened the scoring with a powerplay marker 4:48 into the first period, set up by Ty Petrou and Patrick Saini. Lucas Marshall doubled the lead 2:50 into the second, unassisted.
Evin Kojokaro potted one for the home side at 5:26 of the middle frame, scoring his 17th goal of the season on the powerplay.
Isaac Larmand scored a shorthanded goal at 8:49, assisted by Lucas Vacca and Noah Lodoen, with Saini adding a fourth five minutes before the second whistle after being set up by Petrou and Lucas Stevenson. Alex Bradshaw, from Stevenson and Charlie Fink, and Gavin McGahey-Smith, from Ethan Wright and Lodoen, rounded out the scoring in the third.
Friday night in Wellington will go down in history due to visiting netminder, Brett Fullerton’s, goalie goal in the closing seconds. It was a spirited come-from-behind effort for the Huskies, who went a goal down in the first period but rebounded in the third with tallies from Stevenson, assisted by Jack Staniland and Petrou, and Antonio Cerqua, assisted by Stevenson and Bradshaw. Fullerton’s marker, at 19:40 was unassisted.
Sunday’s tilt in Minden against the Spirit was a rollercoaster. The Huskies were largely outplayed in the opening period, with Fullerton in fine form to keep Stouffville’s dynamic attack at bay. Stevenson grabbed the game’s first goal 11:39 into the second, unassisted. That held up until 15:51 of the final frame, when Andoni Fimis thought his effort was sending the game to overtime. But Bradshaw stepped up with the game-winner 45 seconds later to send the fans home happy.
The team sits in eighth in the OJHL East Conference with 32 points, 15 wins, 13 losses and two ties. They are back in action Dec. 8 on the road against the Aurora Tigers before hosting the Pickering Panthers in Minden Dec. 9. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m.
