The Carleton Place Canadians took control early Friday night, putting the puck into the Smiths Falls Bears’ net not once but four times in the opening 11 minutes.
Levi Kossatz struck first at 3:20, followed by Carter Cooling at 4:03, Graydon Mears at 9:45 and finally Deklan Marks at 10:14. The Bears then called a timeout to regroup and stem the surge against their net.
The second period brought Smiths Falls some much-needed relief. Set up by Alex Fortier, Xavier Carroll managed to get around Canadians goalie William Ross to put the Bears on the scoreboard at the 3:57 mark.
Later in the period, at 16:17, Evan Simeoni, assisted by Shane Delamaire and Kian Vanderwal, narrowed the gap a little more with a power-play goal. But the Bears still faced difficulties mounting an effective offence. Even a five-on-three power-play advantage toward the end of the period didn’t yield any further scoring.
The third period remained relatively calm, except for a final goal for the Canadians by Zachary Lapier at 6:25, sealing their 5-2 win over the Bears.
Overall, the Bears and Canadians each recorded 31 shots on goal.
Marks earned first star, Carroll took second star and Ross was awarded third star.
The Bears turned things around in the return match in Carleton Place on Sunday, coming back home with a 3-2 win.
Luca Bonomo opened the scoring for Smiths Falls at 14:43 of the first period, and Fortier followed in his footsteps with another goal at 16:55.
The Canadians’ Anthony Hatzitheodosiou capitalized on a power-play advantage to bring his team back into the game at 4:32 of the second period, but Delamaire answered with a goal for the Bears at 14:19.
Carleton Place struck once more late in the third period at 16:52, with Lapier narrowing the gap, but the Bears were able to hold their slim lead for the 3-2 win.
Smiths Falls outshot the Canadians 35-31.
The Bears’ next game on home ice at the Smiths Falls Memorial Centre is Oct. 9.
Photos and game coverage by Chris Uhlig.
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