Tough weekend for Aurora as the Tigers suffer two straight losses

If there's anything the Tigers aren't quite thankful for, it would most certainly be the two losses the boys suffered over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The Tigers lost a tight 3-2 bout on the road last Friday against the Pickering Panthers before being trumped 6-1 at home against the Toronto Junior Canadiens.

It was by no means going to be easy to walk into Pickering and earn a win. The Panthers are the defending Buckland Cup champions following an incredible season last year.

But the Tigers gave Pickering a run for their money. The boys outshot the Panthers 34-22 in this one, but, much to their dismay, they fell into a red-hot goaltender in Andrew Ballantyne.

In the first period, Tigers forward Mathison Mason scored his fourth goal in the past three games to open the scoring.

Later on in the frame, Ryan Johnstone tied it all up.

In the second period, it was Mason who added his second of the game to give the Tigers the lead. Mason currently leads the Tigers in goals forward, with eight on the year.

In the third period, Aron Jessli scored on the power play to tie the game up once again and Alex Papaspyropoulos added the third goal on the man advantage to seal the game with less than 10 minutes to play.

Moving into the Aurora Community Centre Saturday night, the Tigers welcomed the Junior Canadiens forward Tyler Fukakusa to the building.

The Mississauga native leads the OJHL with 33 points on the year. He is coming off an 88-point season last year.

And in this game, he immediately got on the board with a power play goal just seven minutes into the game to give the Jr. Canadiens the lead.

Less than two minutes later, Niko Laus added another goal to make it 2-0 after the first period.

In the second period, the Junior Canadiens got on the board once again. Matthew Wilde found his way past Glen Crandall and Fukakusa earned himself an assist on the goal.

Tigers forward Lucas Stanojevic broke James Norton's shutout chances with an early goal in the third period. However, the Junior Canadiens potted home another three goals to make matters worse to earn themselves a 6-1 victory.

On Wednesday, the Tigers traveled to Port Credit to take on the Mississauga Chargers. This weekend, the club will host the Georgetown Raiders Friday night and the Milton Menace this Saturday. Both puck drops in the ACC, are at 7.30 p.m.

If it's one thing head coach Greg Johnston always preaches is never to dwell on past games. Surely the Tigers will put these games behind them and get back to a winning week.

By Robert Belardi