Dec 12, 2014 | khussey | 313 views
Hornets Dominate Cyclones; Tie Kincardine
A shorthanded Hornets squad stormed into Listowel this past weekend for a match against the Cyclones. Despite having only eight skaters available for the game, Howick came away with a commanding 5-0 victory.
Kyle Dickert opened the scoring for the Hornets with another of his dazzling end to end rushes. Goaltender Blake Fraser earned the assist as he stopped the puck behind his own net to start Dickert on his way. Shortly after, Howick extended their lead as Dustin Robertson, Matt Schraa and Evan Hoffele had the Cyclones pinned in their own end. A flurry in front of the goal ended with Robertson potting the goal, with Schraa and Hoffele drawing assists. Cole Miller scored late in the frame to give the Hornets a 3-0 lead after the first.
The second period went much the same way as the first. The Hornets kept the pedal down and continued to attack. The Listowel keeper was unable to control a Dickert shot and a huge rebound bounced out to Tucker King. King made no mistake and fired it home through a maze of legs. A few minutes later, Howick found themselves a man down but didn't let this from stopping them from expanding their lead. Robertson scored his second goal of the game to put the Hornets up five.
Howick continued to play a strong game in the third. Despite being unable to stretch their lead they still controlled play for much of the period. Blake Fraser was not busy in goal, but easily stopped anything that came his way to earn his second shut out of the season.
Two nights later, Howick welcomed the Kincardine Kinucks to the Hornets nest. Both Hornet goaltenders were unavailable for the game so Dickert strapped on the pads. The home side came out hard and scored an early goal to give themselves the lead. Kenzie Brooks held the puck in at the blue line and found Mitch Baillie along the boards. Baillie skated down low and drew the attention of the defenders. A quick pass found Schraa in front who beat the keeper for the opening goal. The lead held until late in the period when Kincardine scored to tie the game. Despite chances at both ends, the 1-1 score held up into the third.
A goal by the Kinucks early in the third didn't slow the Hornets. Austin Clarke sped down the wing and potted a shot from a sharp angle to tie the game. Baillie and Tristan Brears drew assists on the goal. The back and forth match continued and again Kincardine scored to give themselves another one goal lead. The visitors defense held the Hornets in check until the final minute. As Dickert was heading to the bench for the extra attacker, Cole Miller broke into the Kincardine zone and headed for the net. He broke through the checking of the Kinuck defense and picked the corner to tie the game 3-3 with :58 seconds remaining on the clock.