Bruins off to rough start, lose all weekend games
Roger Varley
It was a weekend the Uxbridge Bruins would like to forget, losing three games in the space of four days.
It started on Thursday night when the league-leading Clarington Eagles won 3-1, continued on Friday night when the visiting Schomberg Cougars won 4-2 and concluded Sunday afternoon when the Port Perry LumberJacks downed the Bruins 4-3.
The Bruins are now on a four-game losing streak and have won only one of their first seven regular season games.
On Thursday, the Bruins and Eagles traded goals in the second period, with Tanner Ryan scoring for Uxbridge, assisted by Jordan Bonner and Tom Nitsopoulos. But two quick goals in the third gave Clarington the win. The Eagles bombarded goalie Andrew Claughton with 36 shots, while the Bruins mustered only 18 shots on the net.
At home at the arena on Friday, the Bruins welcomed the Schomberg Cougars for the first time. Schomberg and Caledon have joined the PJHL's Orr Division this season, replacing the Lakefield Chiefs and North Kawartha Knights. The Cougars opened the scoring midway through the first period, but the Bruins responded with a power-play goal while their opponents were two men short. Bonner was the marksman, assisted by Ryan and Jack Kemp.
Schomberg scored two more in the second, including a power-play marker. Ryan closed the gap in the third, assisted by Ryan Shier and Hayden Anderson, but Schomberg rounded out the scoring for the win.
Both teams spent lots of time in the penalty box, with Schomberg receiving 71 minutes on 16 infractions and Uxbridge taking 67 minutes on 18 penalties. Most of those infractions came midway through the third period when both teams engaged in a melee. Schomberg now has 320 minutes in penalties in eight games and is the most penalized team in the entire PJHL.
The Cosmos selected Ryan as player of the game for the Bruins and Jordyn Palazzo for the Cougars.
On Sunday, the Bruins trekked down Reach Street to meet the Port Perry LumberJacks. Braedyn Vannetten scored the first of his three goals for the LumberJacks on Port Perry's first attack on the Bruins' net, just 55 seconds into the game. Ryan, assisted by Evan Gilbert and Lucas Marshall, tied the score three minutes later, but Port Perry re-established the lead at the midway mark.
The Bruins came out stronger in the second, taking the lead with two goals by Ryan Proctor. Assists on the first goal went to Nitsopoulos and Jaxon Koehler and on the second to Luke Kemp and Charlie Wesholowski.
In the third period, Tanner Ryan missed a golden opportunity to score on an open net and the LumberJacks roared back down the ice to tie the game. The winning goal came with less than two minutes remaining.
The Bruins now have a much-needed breather, with only three home games in the next three weeks. They host the Little Britain Merchants at the arena tomorrow (Friday) at 7:45 p.m.