Islanders edge Tradesmen in battle of Cape Breton
Cape Breton West Islanders top scorer Stephen Fox was too sly to contain, scoring a hat trick, including the winner in the third, to lead his club to a 5-4 win over the Cape Breton Unionized Tradesmen on Wednesday.
Fox scored the winner on the power play at 7:34 of the final stanza. He has 27 goals and 17 assists for 44 points in 22 games, and leads the Nova Scotia Eastlink Major Midget Hockey League in points. Fearghus MacDonald and Draper MacLean also struck for the Islanders, who moved into second place with a 17-5-0-0 record. Calum MacPherson chipped in a couple of assists.
Sam Gillis replied with a pair of goal for the seventh-place Tradesmen (7-13-2-0) in front of 200 fans at the Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre. MacKenzie Erickson and Bailey Macdonald on the power play also found the back of the net in the seesaw meeting of the cross-island rivals.
In goal, Ryan Miller made 20 stops for the win, while Seth Crowe deflected 26 pucks in the loss.
The Tradesmen will look to rebound this weekend when
they host the first-place Halifax McDonald’s (17-4-0-1) for games Saturday at 7 p.m. and
Sunday at 1 p.m. in Membertou.
The Islanders next game will be Dec. 14 when they host the
Tradesmen at the Al MacInnis Sports Centre in Port Hood, a 7 p.m. start.