By Robert Belardi
The Junior A Aurora Tigers dropped three games this past week to begin the new year.
Just prior to New Year's Eve, the Tigers travelled out east, on the shore of Lake Ontario, to battle the Cobourg Cougars.
The Cougars got things started first. Nicholas Aromatario opened the scoring four minutes into the first period and Erik MacNiel added a second for a two-goal lead after the opening frame.
In the second period, the Cougars capitalized on the power play thanks to Jason Stachelbeck.
After outshooting the Cougars 16-14 in the first, the Tigers finally got on the board halfway through the game.
Trevor Grasby cut the lead down to two, assisted by the team's leader in points Jonathan Balah.
In the final period, Cougars forward Jacob Campbell added a fourth goal on the power play. Following this goal, the Cougars fell deeply into penalty trouble including a 10-min misconduct penalty to Mitch LaFay for head contact.
As a result of all these penalties, Tigers forward Luc Reeve capitalized on the power play.
With misfortune on the Tigers side, the boys conceded a short-handed goal losing 5-2.
The team outshot the Cougars 32-31 that evening, heading over to another city in the east for a back to back tilt.
Last Friday, the Tigers travelled to Pickering to take on the Panthers. The Aurora Tigers had yet to defeat the Pickering Panthers losing three-straight prior to this game.
In the first period the Tigers outbattled the Panthers. The boys outshot their opponent 13-10. The forecheck was top notch. The penalty kill was sublime.
This game would have to wait until the second period for the puck to hit the back of the net.
Panthers forward Kevin Stiles opened the scoring for his 13th goal of the year. Despite the deadlock being broken, no floodgates opened up in this game.
This tight game had to wait until the third period for the second goal – without a goaltender in net.
Rocco Andreacchi buried the empty net goal.
Tigers goalie Andrew Barwinski stopped 37 of 38 shots on the night and Panthers goaltender Brendan Bonello earned his third shutout of the year in front of 159 attendees.
The next day, these two teams would clash once more in the afternoon in front of a lesser crowd, recorded at 141.
In the first period the Panthers scored two goals less than a minute apart past goaltender Christian Filippetti.
With such a different beginning than the day before, the Tigers remained resilient to the slow start. Sebastian Tamburro scored late in the second period after a dominant frame, outshooting Pickering 15-7.
Down by one goal, the Tigers seemed to have collapsed. The boys coughed up four goals on ten shots, falling 6-1; a scoreline that does not fully reflect a great performance.
Bonello earned a second victory and the Tigers will have to wait until Saturday to take on the Panthers, at home this time at the Aurora Community Centre.
The next game is also at home on Friday, as the Tigers face the Buffalo Jr. Sabres at home. Puck drop is at 7.30 p.m.
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