LAURIE WEIR
The Bear den is buzzing, and rightly so — the Smiths Falls Bears fought their way back into the Central Canada Hockey League final with a punishing 5–2 win over the Rockland Nationals Wednesday night at home, levelling the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.
A white-knuckle first period saw the Bears land three power-play haymakers in under 15 minutes, leaving Rockland seeing stars and spending more time in the sin bin than in the offensive zone.
It was Jackson Heron who kicked things off, rifling a wrister past Rockland’s Benoit Forget at 3:11, capitalizing on a parade of early penalties. Travis Ouellette followed suit with his second of the post-season, and then Quinn Booth made it three-for-three on the man advantage, burying the game-winner at 15:30 after a gorgeous dish from Tyson Parker — who, by the way, put on a clinic all night long.
The Nationals tried to strike back in the second, with Alex Kelloway breaking Ethan Morrow’s shutout bid at the five-minute mark. But Rockland couldn’t keep out of trouble — a check to the head from Noah Laframboise earned him a 10-minute misconduct and a spot in the naughty corner for most of the period. Smiths Falls didn’t cash in that time, but the damage to Rockland’s flow was done.
Enter Parker — again — early in the third. He iced the game with an insurance marker at 1:09, assisted by Heron and Booth, and was deservedly named the second star of the game (the first went to goaltender Morrow, who turned aside 30 of 32 shots like a brick wall in goalie pads). Chris Cardillo put the cherry on top with an empty-netter at 17:57, giving the hometown crowd of 265 something to cheer about.
Despite being outshot in the second frame, the Bears kept their cool — even when the hits kept coming. Rockland’s bench racked up 22 penalty minutes, with Laframboise personally responsible for 14 of them. Smiths Falls, meanwhile, stayed disciplined enough to make their power-play chances count, going 3-for-6 while killing off all of Rockland’s.
Three Stars
1. Ethan Morrow – 30 saves on 32 shots, including key stops late in the third.
2. Tyson Parker – 1G, 2A, 200% hustle, no quit.
3. Spencer Bowes – 1G, 1A for Rockland, lone bright spot in a penalty-plagued night.
Next up: Game 5 hits the ice Friday, April 11 in Rockland. Buckle up — this Bear battle is far from over.
