The Nepean Raiders reached the shootout for second-straight game on Sun. afternoon, ultimately dropping a 2-1 decision to the Ottawa Jr. Senators.
Jr. Senators forward Owen Guy scored the only goal in the shootout to give Ottawa the win.
The game came after the Raiders handed league-leading Carleton Place a 3-2 loss on the road on Fri. It marked the first loss in 14 games for the Canadians, who were the second-ranked team in the country.
The Jr. Sens were also nationally ranked heading into today’s game, at 14th in the country.
“I thought we played really well today, that’s two good games in a row and three points out of four against the league’s top two teams. It’s huge,” said head coach Darcy Findlay.
“I’m very proud of the guys, but the important thing is to make sure we stay focused. It’s no good if we don’t answer next weekend (against Smiths Falls and Pembroke).”
After Ottawa’s Chiwetin Blacksmith got the visitors on the board, Ryan Horvath’s sixth goal of the season tied it up for Nepean. The forward tapped home a feed past Jr. Sens’ goalie Connor Hicks from a streaking Malcolm Arseneau.
Nepean ‘tender Liam Soulière made 34 saves in defeat, giving him a two game total of 87 saves on 90 shots.
“I thought he did an extremely good job. He’s not the biggest goalie but he’s pretty acrobatic and he finds pucks and puts himself in the right spot all the time, which is huge. He gives tremendous confidence to the guys,” said Findlay.
The game marked the debuts of two new Raider forwards in Alex Bourhas (via BCHL’s Merritt Centennials) and Aaron Brisebois (via Kanata Lasers).
The Raiders are back in action Fri. at the Smiths Falls Bears.
