Kings post another pair of wins over the weekend
Elmira runs its record to 4-1 with victories over Cambridge and Brampton, and now sits in second place
THE KINGS MADE IT four in a row, claiming wins in both of last weekend’s games, both on the road and at home. They tamed the Cambridge Redhawks 7-2 on Saturday and extinguished the Brampton Bombers 4-2 the following day.
After dropping the first game of the season, the Kings are 4-1, good enough for second place behind the Waterloo Siskins in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Midwestern Conference.
The results are very pleasing for Sugar Kings head coach Trent Brown.
“We’re on a bit of a streak here,” said Brown. “I think guys were really working away for the puck to give their linemates some options. We used each other very well this past weekend. We don’t want to get comfortable necessarily, but we want to get in the groove and I think that’s what we’re in right now.”
“I think we were pretty true to our game plan,” he added. “Saturday against Cambridge, we knew they were going to be hungry after we beat them 8-2 the game before that. They came out and were putting pressure to us.”
Indeed, the Redhawks drew first blood in the initial game, scoring about halfway through the first period before the Sugar Kings came back with twice the force. Their first goal was scored by Zack Cameron, assisted by Hunter Dubecki and Isaac Taylor, on a power play, with another one just ten seconds later by Mason McMahon (Brody Waters, Damian Figueira).
The Redhawks weren’t going down without a fight, however, evening the score 2-2 quickly after the second intermission. Jeremey Goodwin (McMahon) managed to get another goal followed by Kurtis Goodwin (Dubecki, Taylor) on a power play, giving the visitors a 4-2 lead by the end of the second period.
Elmira kept up the momentum into the third period, with three more goals to wrap up the match with a 7-2 advantage, nearly a repeat of the previous result against the Redhawks.
Scoring the final three goals were Jonah Burley (Kurtis Goodwin), Cameron (Luke Israel, Waters), and Waters (Jackson Kirk, Israel).
“We weathered the storm pretty well and we stayed true to our systems and didn’t go all individualistic,” said Brown. “We came out on top and had the result we wanted on Saturday, for sure.”
The following day was a home matchup at the Woolwich Memorial Centre against the Brampton Bombers.
“Our start was a bit better on Sunday,” Brown noted.
The Sugar Kings were first on the board this time, scoring halfway through the first period courtesy of McKenzie (Israel, Kirk). That was followed by another goal by McMahon (Burley) almost a minute later.
The second period was more competitive, with the Bombers scoring a shorthanded, unassisted goal by Troy Andrews at about the 11-minute mark. The Sugar Kings returned the favour with a goal by McMahon (Goodwin, Waters) and another by Figuiera on a power play (Goodwin, Tyson Hillier).
The final period was relatively uneventful, with one goal by the opposing team, with wrapped up the game with a final score of 4-2 for the Sugar Kings.
“Everybody seems to be buying into the team culture, the team discipline and the direction we want to go in and we had another great result on Sunday,” said Brown.
The Sugar Kings are looking to keep up their winning streak going into the weekend. They will be up against the Warriors on the road in Stratford tomorrow (Friday), followed by a home game against the Kitchener Dutchmen on Sunday (7 p.m.).