The Stratford Warriors dropped a key game to the Chatham Maroons Friday night, falling 3-2 to the visitors to fall back into third place as the playoffs approach.
Stratford fell behind 2-0 after two periods before Dracen Campbell and Colin Slattery scored in the third to make it a one-goal game. Goaltender Carter McDougall stopped 20 of 23 shots in taking the loss.
The Warriors close out the regular season with a trio of games this week, all against teams behind them in the standings. They face off twice with the Listowel Cyclones, starting Monday night at 7:30 p.m. in their final home game of the regular season. They then head to Listowel on Friday, Mar. 7, for a rematch with the Cyclones. They close out the season Sunday, Mar. 9, in Elmira against the Sugar Kings.
Over in St. Marys, the Lincolns are getting hot once again. They thrashed the visiting Komoka Kings 10-0 Friday night behind a hat trick from Lincoln Moore. Owen Voortman and Jaden Lee both scored twice, while Chase MacQueen-Spence, Cohen Bidgood and Noah Vandenbrink added singles. Colby Booth-Housego needed to make just 18 saves to earn the shutout.
A night later, St. Marys put the wood to the London Nationals 9-3 in a game that was tied 3-3 after the first period. Vandenbrink (2), Luca Spagnolo, Jacob McLellan, Ryan Hodkinson, Ethan Coups, Bidgood, Moore and Ian Gedney took care of the scoring for the Lincs, while Booth-Housego stopped 19 of 22 shots for the win.
St. Marys has two games remaining in the regular season; a Wednesday night rematch with the Nationals in London, then a Friday night home date with the Maroons at the Pyramid Centre. Puck drop goes at 7:30 p.m.
In senior action, the Stratford Fighting Irish have gone up 2-0 in their playoff series with the Petrolia Squires following a 7-1 win on home ice Saturday night. Zach Magwood and Christian Polillo scored two goals apiece for the Irish, while Graham Brulotte, Cole Thiessen and Jaden Peca picked up one each. Zach Weir earned his second win of the series in net for Stratford, making 50 saves.
Game 3 of this series will be played Wednesday, Mar. 5, at the William Allman Arena in Stratford. Game time is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
The playoffs are under way in provincial junior hockey, with the Tavistock Braves and New Hamburg Firebirds going to a deciding seventh game in their South Doherty division quarter-final series. No team has won on home ice as of yet, with New Hamburg fending off elimination Sunday with a 2-1 overtime win in Tavistock. Game 7 is set for Tuesday, Mar. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Mitchell saw their season come to an end in a 4-1 series loss to the Fergus Whalers. The Hawks stunned the higher-seeded Whalers 4-2 in the series opener before losing four straight games by a combined 19-8 score.