by Romano Di Franco
The Nepean Raiders played out game two of their brief homestand by playing host to the Navan Grads who are also the defending Bogart Cup champions. Nepean came into this game fresh off of an 8-5 barnburner against the Brockville Braves whereas the Grads thrashed the Pembroke Lumber Kings 8-3. For the starting goalies, John Gedraitis got the start for Nepean having gotten the game off against Brockville. Thomas Gagne got the start in goal for Navan.
The Raiders took an early lead with a power-play goal by Peter Freel assisted by Nicolas Papineau, but Navan quickly responded with a goal from Sam Kimmerly assisted by Patrick Dotson.
By the end of the first period, the shots on goal were 12-11 in favor of the Navan Grads but Gedraitis bailed his team out in the first period.
The second period saw Noah Carpenter scoring for Navan, only for the Raiders to answer with goals from Tyler Smith and Deklyn Campbell, giving Nepean a 3-2 lead heading into the third. Navan tied it up with a power-play goal by Cole Jenken. The Grads appeared to have scored the game winning goal in the dying seconds in regulation only to have the goal waived off. This set the stage for overtime.
Just 26 seconds into OT, Shaan Kingwell sealed the victory for the Grads, earning the first star of the game. Both goaltenders performed well, with Tomas Gagne of Navan and John Gedraitis of Nepean each making 29 saves.
Key Stats:
- Final Score: Navan Grads 4, Nepean Raiders 3 (OT)
- Shots on Goal: Navan 33, Nepean 32
- Power Plays: Navan 1/3, Nepean 1/4
- Three Stars:
- Shaan Kingwell (Navan)
- Tomas Gagne (Navan)
- John Gedraitis (Nepean)
This win was decided by Kingwell’s quick goal in OT, maintaining Navan’s resilience throughout the game.
Nepean’s next game will be held on Friday against the Smiths Falls Bears in the Smiths Falls Memorial Centre on Friday, October 18th.
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