by Romano Di Franco
The Nepean Raiders opened the scoring on Zachary Gravel’s fifteenth goal of the year but then the Kemptville 73’s answered back with two quick goals by Chase Broda and Madoka Suzuki.
Every game this season between these two teams has been won by the team that scored first but the streak was broken today as Suzuki went on to record a hat-trick and a four-point game. Giuseppe Marino scored his first of the season on a one-timer from Matt McQuade that Kemptville goalie William Anderson had no chance on.
Nepean had perhaps their best game on special teams as Beau Binnie scored his twelfth of the year while the Raiders were short-handed situation after Patrick Larkin was given the gate for Goalie Interference and Roughing. The play was set-up on a terrific feed by Marino. Nepean went 1-for-4 on the man advantage and the penalty kill was perfect as they held Kemptville scoreless on the two opportunities they had on the power play. The Raiders last short-handed goal was by Colin Cromie back on November 21 against the Kanata Lasers.
The Raiders outshot the 73’s 13-7 after twenty minutes but were outshot in the game 40-17 as Kemptville poured it on. Despite the shots, the Raiders kept battling back but the comeback was cut short after Ryan Pawlikowski’s insurance goal at 15:47 of the third period closed out the scoring.
Louis Chabot had a pair of assists in the game.
Both teams entered the contest with 1-4 records in their last five games. William Anderson got the win despite registering just a 0.765 save percentage. Keenan Alnahas got the start between the pipes for the Raiders and went the distance turning aside 34 of the 40 shots he faced en route to an 0.850 save percentage.
With his hat-trick, Madoka Suzuki was named the game’s first star while Ryan Pawlikowski was the second star with one goal and two assists. Giuseppe Marino’s two-point night earned him the nod as the game’s third star.
The Raiders next game is Thursday February 20 when they visit their cross-town rivals the Kanata Lasers at the KRC for a 7:30pm puck drop.
