- In a dramatic comeback match ending in overtime, the Stouffville Spirit defeated the Pickering Panthers at home last night. It was their second consecutive win following their victory against Milton last weekend.
- Pickering struck first late in the first period, and an early second period bout between Panther Nolan Connolly and Spirit Tayjon Street resulted in Street being ejected from the game. The Panthers scored their second soon after.
- Zackary Corte, fed by Duncan Grube and David Paglia, responded with a power play goal, cutting the Panthers lead to one. The Panthers responded quickly, however, bringing the score to 3-1.
- Stouffville’s Luke McSorley did his part to keep Pickering honest: his goal, assisted by Nolan Jackson and Cameron Martin, saw the Spirit down by just one at the end of the second period.
- Three minutes into the third, Riley Pope, aided by Zack Corte and Julian Demiglio, put one in to tie things up. With strong defence from both sides resulting no additional goals, the two teams prepared for overtime.
- In short order, Stouffvillian Ryan Harvey sealed the deal in heroic fashion. His goal, assisted by Andoni Fimis and Peter Kioussis, came just three and a half minutes into overtime.
- Players on the Spirit bench rushed onto the ice to celebrate the game-winning goal, and Luke McSorley was awarded the Player of the Game belt.
- “It was a great overall effort from the team,” McSorley told Bullet Point News. “We went down early but rallied back in the third and got the job done.”
- Harvey echoed his teammate and commended their come-from-behind win. “The boys battled hard tonight and I was fortunate enough to be in the right spot for the overtime winner,” he added. “Gotta keep getting better everyday and get ready for Sunday.”
- Final shots were 31-30, with Pickering narrowly edging out the home team.
- With a current record of 13-8-3, the Spirit will face Haliburton County in an away contest on December 3.
Photograph by Andy Corneau, courtesy of OJHL Images
