by Romano Di Franco
NEPEAN, ON – The Raiders were back in action after a six-week hiatus thanks to the Omicron variant fallout that cancelled all CCHL action.
The Navan Grads were the Raiders first opponents of 2022. It was a Groundhog Day matchup between two teams hungry for a win after the long layoff.
Navan came into the game in third place in the Yzerman Division and they are 1-4 in their last five games.
Ben West (13-9, 2.91 GAA) got the start in goal for the Grads while Nathan Loisel (1-2, 4.04 GAA) was between the pipes for Nepean.
The Raiders jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Costa Touliopoulos just 2:40 in and Owen Hollingsworth at 3:52. Touliopolous’ goal was unassisted while Ryan Liverman extended his team lead in assists on the Hollingsworth goal.
The Grads answered right back with two of their own on goals by Devyn Orpana and Blake Butler.
Rylan Iwachniuk put Nepean back out front with his fourth of the season with Anthony Rivard and Louis Chabot getting the apples. The two teams skated the last five minutes with more chances but West and Loisel stopped everything in the remainder of the first.
After 20 minutes Nepean was ahead 3-2 despite the Grads having the shot-advantage at 15-11.
It was all Grads in the second. Owen Parsons tied the game at 3-apiece. It was Parsons’ 11th of the season. They took their first lead when Justin Louette-Isaac notched his second of the season.
The Raiders found themselves in some penalty trouble at 13:34 of the period when Jake Coleman was sent to the box for Interference. Tyler Melvin was assessed a 10-minute Unsportsmanlike Misconduct. They would pay for it when Louette-Isaac tallied his second of the period to give the Grads a 5-3 lead. The period ended with Navan outshooting Nepean 21-7 in the middle frame to take the overall lead in shots at 36-18.
The Raiders were looking to get an early goal to keep the game close but it was Navan who struck first in the third as Owen Parsons found the back of the Nepean net for his 12th of the season. Devyn Orpana’s second of the game gave Navan a 7-3 lead.
The Raiders had no quit in them as Louis Chabot replied just 31 seconds later. Chase Campeau and Jordan Graham were in on the goal with their 2nd and 3rd assists of the season respectively. The goal put Nepean within striking range and they continued to press.
Ryan Burke put the game out of reach with an unassisted goal with just over four minutes left in the third to go up 8-4. Those final minutes was played almost entirely in the Navan zone but Navan net-minder Ben West shined turning aside everything Nepean threw at him.
Grads forward Owen Parsons (2G) was named the first star, Ryan Burke (2G | 1A) got the nod for second star while Chase Campeau (2A) earned the third star for the home team.
Nathan Loisel made 42 saves for Nepean and was named the hardest working Raider. Honourable mention goes to Owen Hollingsworth who scored in his first game back since recovering from injury.
The Raiders are in back in action for the back-end of the home-and-home series with the Grads as they visit the Navan Memorial Centre on Wednesday for a 7:30pm puck-drop.
