Preview : Raiders at Kemptville @7:30 Sept 15th

The Nepean Raiders will leave the comforts of home and travel down to Kemptville this Fri. for a match against the 73’s. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m. at the North Grenville Municipal Centre.

It’s a showdown of 1-4 records, with the 73’s coming into the game last in the CCHL’s Robinson Division. The Raiders sole win came in a 3-1 triumph against the 73’s on Sept. 3 during the Labour Day showcase weekend at the Bell Sensplex.

Nepean will try again for their second win on the young season after surrendering three unanswered goals in a 5-4 loss against the Pembroke Lumber Kings last Sun.

“We’ve been inconsistent and haven’t been playing 60 min. and it shows in our record,” says head coach Darcy Findlay. “We’ve got to make sure we come out and make sure we’re tough to play against.”

 PREVIOUSLY

The match promises to be a physical affair when these teams face off. The two teams average 13 penalties per game between the past two seasons.

The 73’s currently lead the CCHL in penalty min. at 100, a full 14 min. over second-place Hawkesbury.

“It’ll definitely be a good one,” promises blueliner Corey Tam. “It’ll be high energy with both teams in the same situation. We’re looking to bounce back and have a good pace.”

During the showcase game, Kemptville’s Jacob Shankar received a game misconduct for an illegal blow to the head. The forward was suspended five games by the league and will miss this week’s contest.

The Raiders will look to stay out of the box and instead capitalize on offence. Forward Malcolm Arseneau has been hot to start the season, with six points in five games. Antoine Belisle and Kari Belec have had past success against the 73’s recently with five and six points respectively in their previous seven meetings against Kemptville.

THE OPPONENT

This is a different Kemptville team than the one that bowed out in the league semifinals last season to eventual champions Carleton Place. Gone are top scorers Alex Row (Queen’s University), Bobby Dow (Peterborough Petes) and Matt Tugnutt (Sacred Heart University) that gave the 73’s four victories in six games against Nepean last year. The trio combined for 28 points in those six games, with an overtime winner each from Tugnutt and Row.

Starting goalie Nicholas Hodgins has also graduated, moving on to the University of Ottawa.

Forwards Neal Samanski, Joe McGrath, Tyson Kirkby have emerged as the new go-to trio, pacing to four points each on the year. Peter Brooks has seen the most action between the pipes for the 73’s this year, sporting a 1-3 record and a .902 save-% this year. The 19-year-old was 0-1 with a .833 save-% in two contests against the Raiders last year.

NEXT MEETING

The Raiders will play Kemptville three more times this season, with the next game coming Oct. 15 in Nepean.