Uxbridge Bruins win a squeaker, lose a squeaker

Roger Varley

It took an overtime period for the Uxbridge Bruins to score the winning goal against the Little Britain Merchants at the arena last Friday,

The Bruins took a two-goal lead in the first period, both scored by captain Ryan Shier. The first came near the midway point with the assist going to Tucker Roberts. The second came on a long shot five minutes later. Darin Bain and Liam Hackett were credited with the assists.

Shier's goals came after the Merchants had dominated the game for the first eight minutes, during which goalie Robbie DiMaria made a number of excellent saves.

Less than a minute into the second period, the Merchants hit the scoreboard. Two minutes later, DiMaria pulled off another great save to keep the Bruins ahead. At the midway point, Uxbridge scored again, but the goal was disallowed because Bain, who had been serving an interference penalty, stepped out of the penalty box three seconds early. The ensuing penalty was set for 2:03.

The Cosmos selected DiMaria as the player of the game for the Bruins, while Caleb MacLeish took the nod for the Merchants.

Two days later, the Bruins went down Reach Street to meet their archrivals, the Port Perry LumberJacks. Port Perry wore red uniforms for the occasion in a nod to the old Port Perry Flamingos. The LumberJacks won 3-2 and, despite the close score, the Bruins were less than stellar, making far too many mistakes.

Jordan Fitger opened the scoring on a power play early in the first period, assisted by Evan Gilbert and Tyson Lotton. Port Perry evened the score at the midway point. The LumberJacks had the edge on offence because the Bruins did not sustain their attacks.

Early in the second period, DiMaria picked up a penalty for tripping after coming out of his net and making a sliding stop on a LumberJacks forward who had a breakaway. Later in the period, the Bruins once again had a goal disallowed, but came back to take the lead on Lotton's unassisted marker. LumberJacks goalie Eamon Callaghan was hurt on the rush and taken from the game. The goal also sparked a skirmish which saw Lotton, Luke Kemp and Trent Nobes take major penalties.

Port Perry tied the game early in the third and then, at the midway mark, a blind pass by a Bruins defenceman was picked up by the LumberJacks and fired into the net for the win.

The LumberJacks outshot the Bruins 42-34.

The Bruins now sit in fourth place in the seven team Orr Division, having won three and lost two. The local lads return to action tomorrow (Friday) night when they travel to Keswick to face the Georgina Ice at 7:30 p.m. Following that game, the Bruins head to Scarborough on Sunday to take on the Knights.