North York holds on for 4-2 win against Hamilton
(pictured - North York and Hamilton battled to a hard-fought 4-2 decision in favour of the Rangers - photo credit: Shawn Muir/OJHL Images)
The North York Rangers survived a determined comeback attempt by the Hamilton Red Wings on the way to a 4-2 win.
North York made the score 4-0 on a goal by Michael Morgan at 14:12 in the second period, and Hamilton got as close as 4-2 when Laine McKay scored 4:19 into the third period.
Gabriel Valenzuela had two goals to lead the Rangers to victory. Valenzuela scored at 3:27 into the first period to make the score 1-0 North York and again while 11:01 into the second to make the score 3-0 North York.
North York stifled the Red Wings' power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man.
North York additionally got points from Ryan Takamatsu, who also registered one goal and one assist. Other players who recorded assists for North York were Matthew Whittaker, who had three and Cameron Stajer, Ted Hunt, Christian Zanetti, and Will Reilly, who each chipped in one.
Hamilton also got a goal from Jonathan Prasnjak as well. In addition, Hamilton received assists from Matt Smith, who had two and Luke Sinclair and Anthony Lisi, who contributed one each.
Gianluca Baggetta made 25 saves for the Rangers on 27 shots. North York incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. Hamilton's Mark Sinclair stopped 19 shots out of the 23 that he faced. The Red Wings incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. For Hamilton, Jeff Joynt was ejected from the game.
