Junior A Tigers plagued by losses once again

It's back to the drawing board for the Tigers.

Just days after stringing together their first back-to-back wins of the Ontario Junior Hockey League season, the Aurora club returned to the loss column for three straight losses last week, once again cementing their position in the division's basement.

Hosting the Pickering Panthers for a day game on October 23, it was a battle of two clubs trending in the right direction after a slow start to the season. Aurora came out the gate with a pair of late first period goals from Jackson Clark and Eric Conley, though a pair of Pickering tallies with the extra man advantage in the second squared it up.

Cael Cavallin had the Tigers back on top 3 – 2 with his first goal of the year in the second period, though Pickering picked up four goals in the final frame, eventually taking a 6 – 4 win in front of the school-day crowd.

Bryce Young notched the Tigers' final goal.

Christian Filippetti was tagged with the loss, only to return to the net two days later to do battle with the Collingwood Colts, coming out on the wrong end again in what was otherwise a valiant effort.

Aurora's starting tender managed a whopping 42 saves at Eddie Bush Arena, falling 3 – 2 in an overtime game that saw the Tigers' leading with under five minutes left to play in regulation.

Filippetti was fooled by the Colts' Jacob Campbell at the 15:29 mark, before Patrick Brown gave the home side the extra point just over a minute into the overtime period.

No points would come the Tigers' way in Saturday's home hosting of the Burlington Cougars at the Aurora Community Centre, a 7 – 3 loss that saw Burlington explode in offense in the latter half of the game.

Tied at twos late in the second period, Burlington managed three straight goals to take a commanding lead they would never give up, snapping a losing streak of their own while stretching the Tigers' to three games.

Despite the losses, Tigers head coach Rob De Fulviis remains optimistic that his club can turn it around.

“We're trending in the right direction,” said De Fulviis. “We certainly have a lot to clean up in our game but we're taking it day by day.”

The optimism does little to change the fact, however, that the Tigers are now one-third of the way through the OJHL season and well out of contention: a record of 3-12-0-3 has Aurora sitting last in the North division, eleven points back of the division-leading Colts.

Aurora holds a one-point advantage on the Lindsay Muskies, who find themselves 22nd out of 22nd among league standings.

A chance to extend that lead and break the losing streak comes this Friday when the Tigers visit the Muskies for the first meeting of the year between the two clubs, before heading to Brantford on Sunday to do battle with the 99ers.

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

By Jake Courtepatte