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Red Wings spoil Tigers’ home opener, Aurora drops two in a row

September 24, 2014   ·   0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

The Aurora Tigers are off to a rare 1 – 2 start, managing only three goals in a weekend that saw them drop back-to-back home games.

The Tigers hosted the Hamilton Red Wings Friday night in their home opener at the Aurora Community Centre, where Mayor Geoff Dawe dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff to open the 2014-2015 season.

The home team got on the board early when Keaton Ratcliffe beat Red Wing goaltender Alex Bishop for the 1 – 0 lead.

Hamilton would then go on to pot three in a row, leading the Tigers 3 – 1 heading to the second intermission.

Despite a late charge led by goals from Cameron Morrison and Daniel Mantenuto, Hamilton would come out on top due to a solo effort from veteran Luke Sinclair to give the Red Wings the 4 -3 win.

Aurora was back on the ice at home the next day against the Lindsay Muskies, locked into what would be a goaltender’s battle.

Deadlocked at 0 – 0 in the first, Muskie Keegan Cairns broke in alone against Tigers goaltender Andy Munroe. Munroe was able to get a glove on the snapshot, hitting the post and preserving the scoreless game.

A minute later, Tiger Marty Lawlor picked up the puck in the high slot, also ringing one off the post on the short side and leaving the teams tied after one period of play.

The scoring would open midway through the second, when a shot from the point by the Muskies was picked up by Stefan von Engelbrechten who put the rebound under the glove of Munroe.

Despite two early powerplays, the Muskies’ defence was effective in keeping the Tigers to the outside where they were forced to send pucks to the middle.

The Tigers would find a spark at the end of the second, when Callum Fryer, Jordan DaSilva, and Nicholas Erb played a textbook triangle defence to kill off a full two-minute 5-on-3.

However, Fryer was sent to the box ten seconds later on a hooking call. In the last few seconds of the powerplay, Logan DeNoble found room on the short side to beat Munroe, putting the visiting team ahead 2 – 0 heading into the second intermission.

A fairly uneventful third was highlighted by a flashy glove save by Munroe on a one-time slapshot off the draw by Lindsay’s Matthew Marchese.
Down by two, the Tiger’s pulled Munroe with 1:50 left in the game, which led to an easy empty-net goal by Cairns to secure the win.

The Tigers complete a three-game homestand Friday against the St. Michael’s Buzzers, before heading to Georgetown to face the Raiders on Sunday.
For more information, stats, and schedules, visit www.auroratigers.pointstreak.com.

         

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