Huge game by Grande boosts Cobourg over Orangeville, 6-2
Behind a great game by Liam Grande, who had two goals and one assist, the Cobourg Cougars defeated the Orangeville Flyers, 6-2.
Grande's tallies came on the power play at 1:27 into the third period to make the score 3-1 Cobourg and 16:32 into the third to make the score 6-2 Cobourg.
Cobourg pulled out the victory even though it was hit with 38 penalty minutes.
The Cougars made Flyers' goaltenders to work without much rest, firing 38 shots and forcing 32 saves. Wyatt Pickrell made 27 stops and Taylor Welsh made five. Cobourg put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Orangeville to score on any of its six power plays. The Cougars found the back of the net more times than it usually has this season. This season, Cobourg averages 3.1 goals per contest.
Cobourg also got points from Stuart King, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Cobourg included Jake Emilio, Landon Schiller, and Mitchell Gibson APJ, who scored one goal each. Other players who recorded assists for Cobourg were Theo Lewis, Spencer Holt, and Connor Armour, who contributed one a piece and TJ Melancon and Mason Marchment, who each chipped in two.
The Flyers could not stay out of the penalty box, as the team accrued 52 minutes in penalties during the game.
Orangeville was led by Emmerson Small, who registered two goals. Small scored the first of his two goals at 15:05 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Orangeville. Matt Mercer assisted on the tally. Small's next tally made the score 5-2 Cobourg with 11:38 left in the third period. Ian Nichols picked up the assist. More assists for Orangeville came via Lucas Smilsky, who had one.
The Cougars' Mathieu Ouellet stopped 15 shots out of the 17 that he faced. Cobourg registered three goals on nine power play opportunities. Team's Rylee McKinnon and Taylor Gauld were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game.
