by Romano Di Franco
The Nepean Raiders powered themselves to an impressive 4-1 win over the Ottawa Junior Senators in a match in which they never trailed.
After the two teams went scoreless through the first thirty-five minutes, Matt McQuade opened the scoring at 15:55 of the second set up by newest Raider Zachary Gravel and Raiders leading goal scorer Evan Boucher. Gravel was playing in just his second game with the Nepean Raiders the first against his former team.
Conor Smart responded with a goal for the Junior Senators in the final minute of the period to even the score at 1-1 heading into the third period. The Raiders were outshot 32-17 after forty minutes.
The third period was pretty much all Raiders as Patrick Maule potted the game winner four minutes in with assists from David Fontaine and Giuseppe Marino. Fontaine was not done for the night as he would get an assist on the Beau Binnie insurance goal that came with OJS left winger Christophe Cote in the box for tripping. Matt McQuade registered his second point of the night on the game winner as well. Beau Binnie iced the game with his second of the night and first game back from injury with the Raiders’ second empty-net goal of the season. Isaiah Baptiste also returned to the lineup to help solidify the back line after a lengthy absence due to injury.
Tyler Laureault turned away 40 of the 41 shots he faced and was named the game’s first star. Beau Binnie’s two-goal performance earned him the second star and David Fontaine claimed the third star with his two-assists on the night. It was the first time that the Raiders have swept the three-stars this year in addition to being the twelfth time this season that Laureault has snagged one of the game’s three-star selections. He trails only Cornwall Colts’ goalie Rico Dimatteo in that department. Dimatteo has received fourteen game star nods to lead the league.
The Raiders next game is the conclusion of the home-and-home series against the Ottawa Junior Senators as they meet again on Saturday night at the Jim Durrell Recreation Complex for a 7:40pm puck drop.
