Gaels end Northmen win streak
The Green Gaels went into Thursdays home game with a lot on their plate, as they were set to face the undefeated Orangeville Northman. The Gaels looked to bounce back from an OT loss on Sunday night, and the Northmen looked to extend their record to 11-0 this season.
The Gaels got off to a rocky start in this one as Marcello Carreiro opened the night with a power-play goal for the Northmen. The Gaels then bounced back with 3 of their own. Cole Tucker was able to find the back of the net twice in this first period, and Xander Johnson got in on the fun with a goal of his own. Ty Taylor had a great start, assisting on all 3 of the Gael’s first-period goals.
Jake Argue of the Northman would finish the period with a goal of his own to bring the score to 3-2 at the end of the first.
The Gaels Colton McNutt and the Northmens Marcello Carreiro would both have an unbelievable second periods for their respective squads. Colton scored the first and last goals of the period, while Marcello gave himself a second-period hat-trick moving his total on the night to 4 goals with a period still to go.
Jacob Yoo and Kaleb Taterek also found the back of the net in this period, moving the Gaels lead to 7-5 after the second.
The third period would be pretty close to as good of a period as you can ask for as a Gaels fan. Besides a goal from Orangeville’s Devin Lampron, the Gaels are able to score three more and put this game to bed. Cole Tucker and Colton McNutt finished off their respective hat-tricks, while Carsyn Kent put the final nail in the coffin, making this a 10-6 Gaels victory.
Other notable performances from the Gaels were Goaltender Craig Johannson’s coming up with some huge sliding saves in the third period to keep the Gaels' lead alive. Brody Strong, who not only had a great game on the defensive side of the ball but yet again had a great night with a tough matchup at the faceoff dot, resulting in many possessions for the Gaels. Brody’s efforts earned him the player of the game, decided by his teammates.
This game did not disappoint, as usual, when it comes to a matchup with these two teams. The Gaels were able to be the first to beat the Northman all year and strip them of the right to call themselves undefeated.
The Gaels and Northmen will go back at it again On Saturday night in front of a passionate Orangeville crowd. Will the Gaels hand Orangeville their first two losses of the season or will Orangeville even things up in the regular season series? We are in for a good game either way.