Patriots post two wins to reach preseason tournament final
ALLISTON – The Mount Forest Patriots posted a pair of 5-2 victories Saturday as they continued play in the Alliston Hornets preseason tournament at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre.
Wins over the Stayner Siskins and Huntsville Otters Saturday combined with a 2-1 victory over the Little Britain Generals Friday put the Patriots in the tournament final today (Sept. 10) against the host Hornets.
Alliston also has three wins in the tournament as they defeated the Penetang Kings 4-0 Thursday before also getting two wins Saturday – 5-2 over the Georgina Ice and 3-1 over the Port Perry Lumberjacks.
Saturday, the Patriots held Stayner scoreless after the first period for the victory.
Mount Forest led 3-2 at the end of the first before adding one goal in the second and a final goal in the third.
Scoring once apiece for the Patriots were Aaron McGuirk, Matt McLellan, Will Lewis, Brody Leblanc and Cole Kippers. Lewis and Owen Tovell each had two assists while Reid Caswell, Hartley Mckenzie, McLellan and Jordan Leitch each had one assist.
Kylar Watson and Cole MacArthur had the goals for Stayner while assists went to Cole Dubowsky and Tait Lightheart.
Shots on net were not reported. Both teams went 0-for-2 on their power plays.
Nolan Brown was in net for the Patriots while Coulter Taylor was in goal for Stayner.
The Patriots also kept Huntsville scoreless after the first period as they rebounded for the victory in that game.
The Otters led 2-1 at the end of the first period, but Mount Forest responded with two goals in each of the second and third periods for the win.
Leblanc tallied twice for the Patriots while Evan McDougall, Lewis and Jaxon Gawel added singletons. Charlie Mckenzie had three assists while McLellan, Leblanc and Gawel each had one.
Sam Litt and Jack MacInally scored for Huntsville while Jacob Jennings, Jesse Taylor and Hunter Haskim each had an assist.
The Patriots outshot the Otters 28-23 and went 1-for-2 on their power play while Huntsville was 0-for-2 on its power play.
Tristan Szymanowski had 21 saves in the Mount Forest net while Darian Willis had 23 for Huntsville.
The Patriots and Alliston are to meet in the tournament final today at 12 p.m.
That game is to close out the preseason for the Patriots who are to begin their regular season by hosting the expansion Fergus Whalers next Saturday (Sept. 16) at the Mount Forest and District Sports Complex. Game time is 8 p.m.
- Guelph Sports Journal