Foston leads Valley to OT victory in Amherst

Cole Foston was the overtime hero Feb. 11 for the Valley Wildcats.

The Beaver Bank native scored his second of the game, 2:52 into the extra frame, to secure a 2-1 win over the Ramblers in Amherst. Brendan MacRitchie and Jason Kwestel had the assists on the power-play goal during the Maritime Junior Hockey League contest.

Coen Strang gave the home side a 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the second period. Alex Savoie and Jonah Jelley picked up the helpers on the power-play marker.

Foston from Josh Crooks and Kwestel tied it five minutes later.

Justin Bourque made 36 saves for the win while Mitchell Dudar stopped 47 shots in the loss.

Valley, which went 1-for-9 on the power play, improved to 18-21-3-1 while Amherst fell to 14-223-2.

The win came a night after losing 6-0 to the league-leading Mariners in Yarmouth.

Reilly Mayne scored twice in the win while Michael Marquez set up three goals as the Mariners built 1-0 and 3-0 period leads.

Captain Ben Roode, Nathan Kelly, Jerome Gilbert and Ryan Semple each had a goal and an assist. Alex Roode, Tammy Ettaqi and Andrew Stuckless each chipped in a helper.

Keegan Warren stopped all 18 shots he faced for the shutout.

Bourque allowed five goals on 33 shots in 50 minutes while Evan Martin stopped four of five shots he faced.

Yarmouth, which went 2-for-3 on the power play and killed all four of Valley’s opportunities with the man advantage, begins this week 33-8-1-0.

The Wildcats are back on the road this week. They travel to New Glasgow Thursday, Feb. 16, to play the Pictou County Weeks Crushers (18-23-0-0) before heading back to Yarmouth on Saturday, Feb. 18.