Admirals pick up win but record two losses in busy week

Essex’s Ethan O’Neil was stopped on this wraparound attempt by Amherstburg goalie Bennett Horrocks.

It was a busy four days for the Amherstburg Admirals as they played three games, picking up a 12-3 win over the Walpole Wild and coming very close to beating the West Stobbs Division leading Essex 73’s and the Lakeshore Canadiens.

Amherstburg now sits at 9-14-2-0 in the Provincial Junior Hockey League (Jr. C).

The Admirals came out flying last Saturday night against Essex and were up 2-0 early on goals by Stefan Djordjevic and Brayden Hebert but the 73’s pulled to within one with just nine seconds left in the opening frame.

The Admirals regained the two-goal cushion as Hebert got his second of the night, but Essex scored a shorthanded goal and one on the powerplay to tie it up before Jack Lewis got the winner late in a 4-3 decision.

“The first period we played great and then halfway through the second we started going back to our old style of being fancy and wanting to make plays,” said Amherstburg head coach Zack Gervais.

Amherstburg played with a lot of grit and determination in the final period with second-year defenceman Freddie McCroy laying out a huge mid-ice hit and forward Finnigan Russett making an excellent play by diving for the puck and swatting it out of the zone.

“The guys worked hard, they blocked shots and they won faceoffs,” said Gervais.

Without a doubt the best player, and rightfully named the first star of the game, was Amherstburg goalie Bennett Horrocks who turned away 48 shots and late in the game, without his stick, brought the Libro Centre crowd to its feet with some heroics.

“He laid it all out there. He played with a lot of heart. I feel bad for him for what happened at the end,” said Gervais.

The Admirals hosted Lakeshore Sunday evening and battled the Canadiens to a scoreless first period stalemate before falling 2-0.

Once again, Amherstburg got an outstanding effort between the pipes as Landon Dimitroff made 37 saves.

“Both those teams (Essex and Lakeshore) are super skilled and have super skilled players,” said Gervais.

Last Thursday at Walpole Island was a night of firsts for the Admirals.

Second-year speedy forward Cory Leach had his first hat trick, veteran Jayden Seguin returned to the lineup for his first contest of the year, and Jackson Blair netted his first goal.

Amherstburg went 3-for-7 on the powerplay en route to a big 12-3 win over the Wild. Leach and Stefan Djordjevic led the way with four points each. Also scoring were Finnigan Russett, two each from Rory Sandison and his linemate Brett Jones, and Cooper Bulmer. In all, 15 Admirals hit the scoresheet.

 Dimitroff got his third win in net making 33 saves.

The Admirals travel to Dresden Friday night to take on the Kings. The next home game is Dec. 20 against Blenheim at 7:30 p.m.

SLAPSHOTS: Saturday night was Jayden Seguin’s 100^th PJHL game… High scoring forward Brody Gillis had an assist against the Wild but due to an injury did not play Saturday or Sunday.

Admirals pick up win but record two losses in busy week

By Fred Groves