by Romano Di Franco
NEPEAN, ON – The Nepean Raiders opened their February schedule with a match against the Carleton Place Canadians. This was the fourth meeting of the season with each team having a regulation win and the Canadians winning 5-4 in a shootout in their previous match back on December 6.
Jackson Pundyk (12-7-0-1, 2.77 GAA, 0.912 SV%) got the start in goal for Renfrew while Luca Sandu (6-12-1, 4.46 GAA, 0.893 SV %) was between the pipes for Nepean.
It was Derek Hamilton who got the scoring started for Carleton Place. Luca Ricciardi tied the game at 1-1 with a blast from the slot that Pundyk had no chance on. Brandon Reinisch had the pass from behind the net to pick up the primary assist while Curtiss Sturgeon picked up the secondary assist.
The Canadians responded with two more goals to make it 3-1 after one. Cole McGuire scored a PowerPlay goal after Brayden Potvin was booked for Slashing. The other goal came from Matteo Disipio who netted his 27th goal of the season and now trails only Smiths Falls forward Sean James (30) for the league lead. Nepean managed to outshoot Carleton Place 14-12 in the first period.
The Canadians pelted Luca Sandu with 17 shots in the second period as they would record the only two goals of the period coming off the sticks of Gino Colangelo and Mathieu Fehr. They took their 5-1 lead into the final frame where the two teams traded goals. First it was Owen Rainey scoring for Carleton Place to give the visitors a 6-1 lead. Luke Posthumus then picked up his 13th of the season to extend his point streak to eight games. Carson McGurn and Nicolas Papineau picked up the assists.
In between the two goals Curtiss Sturgeon was hauled down on a breakaway and given a Penalty Shot. Sturgeon took the puck with a sweeping move to the right side but Pundyk tracked him all the way to make the save.
The final score was 6-2 Carleton Place as they outshot Nepean 36-23.
Matteo Disipio (1G | 3A) earned the first star, Gino Colangelo (1G | 1A) was named the second star while Luca Ricciardi (1G) earned Nepean’s lone honours as the third star.
Be sure to Subscribe, Like and Comment to the official Nepean Raiders YouTube channel and catch every goal.
