CHRIS UHLIG

The win seemed oh so close, but in the end it was yet so far away.

The Bears enjoyed a good week, first a 6-1 win over the Kemptville 73s Wednesday, then Pat Malloy was named General Manager of the Year by the CCHL, people voted for their favorite players, but then came Friday, and it might as well have been the 13th instead of the 10th.

The team hosted the Carleton Place Canadians and with that the old long standing rivalry between the two Lanark towns came to the forefront once again.

The first period saw no scoring by either side. Lucas Culhane finally activated the scoreboard at 3:24 in the second period with a power play goal. The assists go to Owen Watson and Trevor Faucher on this one. But Carleton Place went even with a score by Kyle Kudrna at the 9:58 mark and Caton Ryan put the Canadians to the lead at 13:27. Shaymus Stevenson, assisted by Alec Hamedy and Lucas Culhane levelled the setting at 8:19 in the third period, followed by Lucas Culhane’s second goal at 15:37, assisted by Matthew Dimaline and Cameron O’Connell. Could the team hold on to the final four-and-a-half minutes for the win? Sadly no, Loic Prudhomme thwarted the hope with a score late in the game at 17:49. The overtime period saw no more scoring and the shootout went firmly in favour of the Canadians with two successful hits versus none by the Bears.

The Canadians went back to Carleton with a 4:3 win over the Bears.

First Star went to the Canadians goalie Aidan Feddema, Second Star went to Lucas Culhane for two goals and one assist, and Carleton Place’s Caton Ryan was awarded Third Star for one goal.

Smiths Falls once again outshot their opponents dramatically 43 to 20, but are still lacking the fitting accuracy.

The Bears now have 72 points on their belt which places them on the familiar first spot in the Robinson Division and second place overall.