Patriots slip by Kincardine in semifinal opener

MOUNT FOREST – The Mount Forest Patriots scored twice in the first period to grab a lead on the Kincardine Bulldogs that they wouldn’t relinquish in the first game of their best-of-seven Provincial Junior Hockey League Pollock Division semifinal Wednesday at the Mount Forest and District Sports Complex.

The Patriots scored a pair of goals just over a minute and a half apart late in the first period to grab a 2-0 lead. Kincardine netted the lone goal of the second before Mount Forest scored early in the third and the Bulldogs responded with their final goal of the game just less than nine minutes later.

Matt McLellan tallied twice for the Patriots while Seth Huygen also scored. Brody Leblanc and Aaron McGuirk each had two assists while Jaxon Gawel and Austin Griffin had one apiece.

Scoring for Kincardine were Liam Colhoun and Carter Servais while assists were given to Servais, Kieran Moore and Jordan Moulton.

Kincardine outshot Mount Forest 42-30, but were scoreless on six power plays while the Patriots went 1-for-4 with a manpower advantage.

Marshall Nicholls had 40 saves for the Patriots while Carter Garvie had 27 for Kincardine.

The Patriots had finished second in the Pollock Division at the completion of the regular season at 32-7-3-0 (W-L-OTL-T) while Kincardine was third at 23-12-2-5.

Second game of the series is set for Friday at 8:30 p.m. at the Davidson Centre in Kincardine while the third game is to go Saturday at 8 p.m. in Mount Forest.

• Guelph Sports Journal