by Romano Di Franco
It was another exciting hockey game between the Rockland Nationals and the Nepean Raiders on October 15, 2023 as the Nepean emerged as the victors after an overtime thriller.
Wills Seagrave got the start in between the pipes for Rockland while John Gedraitis got the nod in the Nepean goal picking up his first win of the season
It was the Nepean Raiders’ Dylan Paron who opened the scoring with a goal, assisted by Marty Magaletta and Curtiss Sturgeon. The Raiders took that 1-0 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes.
Rockland took the lead with a pair of goals when Jaden Davis responded with a goal sixty-one seconds in assisted by Kyle Leonard and Mathieu Paquin and then Xavier Laurent scored four minutes later assisted by Charles Poirier and Anthony Hall.
Nepean squared the game at 2-2 when Lleyton McLean scored with helpers by Nicolas Papineau and Josh Reid.
Rockland once again took the lead at the 6:37 mark after Trystan-Félix Tremblay scored. It looked like that would be enough but with less than three minutes to go in regulation Owen Hardy forced overtime with a goal assisted by Curtiss Sturgeon and John Lumsden.
Curtiss Sturgeon secured the victory for Nepean with a overtime goal with Owen Hardy and Marty Magaletta picking up the assists.
Rockland Nationals accumulating 10 minutes in the penalty box while the Nepean Raiders racked up just 8 minutes. Neither team gave up a PowerPlay goal.
1st Star: Curtiss Sturgeon (Nepean Raiders) – (1G | 2A), 2nd Star: John Gedraitis (Nepean Raiders) – Impressive goaltending with 28 saves, 3rd Star: Wills Seagrave (Rockland Nationals) – Strong performance in goal with 36 saves
The game was a tight contest, with both teams delivering a thrilling performance. Ultimately, the Nepean Raiders secured the win in overtime, with Curtiss Sturgeon’s game-winning goal.
The Raiders win their third game in a row for the first time this year and their next opponent is the Renfrew Wolves as Nepean travels to the Ma-Te-Way Rec Centre for a 7:30pm puck drop on Saturday night.
