By Darren Lum
Late Friday night the Haliburton Wolves returned home with a 10-3 loss after squaring off against the Sturgeon Falls Lumberjacks in Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League action at Sturgeon Falls Arena.
The team made the trip by several cars as carpooling became necessary when a bus was not available for the evening.
Haliburton had an early lead in the first when Zachary Thorsen scored the game’s first goal minutes into the game. Jacob Bishop assisted.
It was a short-lived lead as the Lumberjacks’ player Matthieu Verreault scored the equalizer minutes later. In the second period the home team then scored two more goals before Thorsen scored again for the Wolves to narrow the gap to 3-2. Connor Aleski and James Kilgore assisted on the goal.
That was as close as the road could get to sending the partisan crowd home disappointed as the Lumberjacks added two more in the period and then scored five more to the lone Wolves’ goal by captain Nick Hunter who was assisted by Jayden Southwind.
Besides a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct penalty the Wolves only had four minor penalties for eight minutes.
According to the online scoresheet the Wolves’ newest goaltender Chance Turner from Texas started and was replaced five minutes into the third period by Mitchell Volmert who has left the team for an indefinite time for personal reasons. The team’s other recent additions are Jonah Lillis of Ontario and Brenden Shepcario-Blacksmith of Quebec.
Although the Lumberjacks have three games in hand (as of Sunday afternoon) the Wolves remain seven points back (7-27-0).
This was the fifth loss in a row and the second consecutive loss to the Lumberjacks after the Wolves were edged out 5-3 at home the night before.
Wolves goals were scored by James Kilgore Ryan Hunter who also had an assist and Thorsen who had three points (one goal and two assists). Assists came from Jayden Southwind Nick Hunter and Lachlan McKenzie.
The season series is led by Sturgeon Falls who has won every meeting since the Wolves first 8-7 win at home on Sept. 24.
Haliburton hosts Bracebridge this week on Thursday. Puck drops at 7:30.
