The Shawville Pontiacs kept their winning streak going on Friday night with a home matchup against the South Stormont Mustangs, who they beat 7-4 in a back and forth game.
Coach Darcy Findlay said that the Mustangs are the powerhouse of their division, with players that bring a lot of speed.
“It’s a big win in my eyes,” he said. “It’s two points that not a lot of people are going to get this year.”
The visitors came out hot with a lot of pressure in the first period, though the Pontiacs weathered the storm and Christian Berini managed to get one by South Stormont’s goalie with just over two minutes left to go.
The scoring picked up in the second, with Shawville netting two goals in the first half of the period, and had another disallowed due to an icing call. South Stormont wasn’t going to leave empty-handed however, and they battled back with three goals of their own in the final five minutes of the frame, with the Pontiacs adding one as well.
“Our guys played well, skated well,” Findlay said. “I was impressed with our work ethic and just matching the intensity and skill level.”
Shawville rookie Julien Arruda opened up the third period with an early goal, his second of the night. With just over two minutes left, Jean-Philippe Caron beat South Stormont’s defence to an open net and put the home team up by three. Not willing to go quietly, the Mustangs managed to get one back just under a minute later. A final empty-netter from Brendan St-Louis with three seconds left on the clock put an end to the scoring at 7-4 for the Pontiacs.
Veteran goaltender Danick Boisvert was awarded the first star of the game for his shot-stopping efforts, and Arruda got the second star for his two goals and an assist.
“Danick played really well, I think he ended up with a little over 40 shots in the game, a lot of them early and a lot of them late,” Findlay said. “You’ve got to be sharp early on to keep us in until we score [ . . . ] He made some big saves that kept momentum going in our favour. And Julien had a great game with a couple goals, he’s been really good for us. As a guy with no experience in the league, he stepped in and is playing on the top line.”
The Pontiacs will be on the road for the next few weekends, taking on the Arnprior Rivermen in Deep River, Ont. on Oct. 25, and defending league champions, the North Dundas Rockets on Nov. 1.
“The key for us is to not take Arnprior lightly, I know they haven’t won yet this year but they haven’t necessarily had their entire roster either,” Findlay said. “Next week we play North Dundas, who’s won the league I don’t know how many years in a row [ . . . ] It’s a big test for us to match up against them, see how we do.”
The Shawville Pontiacs’ next home game will be Nov. 7 against the South Grenville Rangers.
