Four straight goals not enough for Aurora Tigers comeback

February 3, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

Superstar siblings spoiled the party in the Tigers’ den on Friday, as a late goal from the Georgetown Raiders prevented what would have been an epic comeback.

Brendan and Jack Jacome, both in the top fifteen in Ontario Junior Hockey League scoring this season, padded their stats with four points each in a 5 – 4 win at the Aurora Community Centre.

Brendan Jacome opened the scoring with a minute to go in the first, with brother Jack seemingly skating around every Tiger while circling the Aurora net before feeding Brendan.

He beat Alex Fotinos, who had already been forced to stop seventeen shots in the period.

Both brothers assisted on Georgetown’s second goal early in the middle frame, a rebound that left a sprawled Fotinos little chance. Two more tallies for the Raiders came before the midway point of the game, the fourth a cross-crease pass from Jack to Brendan, giving Georgetown a 4 – 0 lead.

Three straight goals with under five minutes to go in the second for Aurora turned the tables for the final period.

Evan Kearns scored twice in less than a minute, getting two whacks at a rebound then charging right for the goal after the next centre ice faceoff.
Drake Board brought out his best moves in the dying seconds of the second, niftily dragging the puck around a Georgetown defender before going in alone and roofing it over goaltender Andrew Masters.

With the score now 4 – 3, Tigers coach Thomas Milne shook things up in net for the third, electing to put Alex Boyko between the pipes. Fotinos faced 33 shots in the first two periods alone.

Defenceman Noah Delmas completed the comeback with a rip from the blue line on a 5-on-3 powerplay at the 12:55 mark.

The ACC was buzzing and the Tigers’ bench electric before Brendan Jacome regained the Georgetown lead with five minutes to go.

A scrum ensued at the final whistle, including 5’7” Board challenging 6’7” Georgetown defenceman Jake Payette, but the night was over for the Tigers.

“It turned into a well-fought game for both sides,” said Brendan Jacome after the contest. “It just goes to show that you can never let your guard down, especially against a good team like this.”

“We got some good bounces, their goalie (sic) played really well. In the end it could have gone either way.”

The Tigers must have still been fired up less than 24 hours later, dismantling the Lindsay Muskies 8 – 1 in front of a hometown crowd.

Captain Daniel Mantenuto had a goal and three assists, with Liam Neuman, Austin Gerhart, and Ryan Shaw each contributing three points of their own.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak.

But even after the smoke cleared, the Tigers now sit far back of the Markham Royals for the lead in the OJHL’s North division, who haven’t lost a game in regulation in almost three weeks.

Markham (28-13-2-3) currently holds a nine point advantage over the Tigers (23-14-0-6).

A pair of home games are coming up this weekend when the Tigers host the division rival Pickering Panthers (14-27-1-4) on Friday, followed by a matchup with the Whitby Fury (21-21-1-4) of the league’s toughest East division.

For stats, schedules, and more information, visit www.auroratigers.pointstreaksites.com.