The Georgetown Raiders managed to pick up a massive overtime victory against the Brantford 99ers Monday night at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre. Here’s what you need to know.
The first period began with back and forth, end-to-end action, before Quinn Tavares broke through on a partial break and gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead. The 99ers would tie the game three minutes later before Jack Guvenal scored his fifth of the season with under two minutes left, giving the Raiders a 2-1 lead heading to the first intermission. The 99ers lead the Raiders 18-14 in shots after 20 minutes.
The second period was another back and forth affair for the clubs with what felt like either team generating chances. Kristian Lamanna gave the Raiders a 3-1 lead at the 8:29 mark after muscling two defenders away to get a quick shot on net that found the twine. That tally would be Lamanna’s 16th of the campaign.
Then, a bouncing-deflecting shot would go in for Georgetown that last touched Luca Rea on the way to the net. This would also be Rea’s 16th of the year. The Raiders seemed to be controlling play now for the majority of the second period, as evidenced by the shots being 19-9 for Georgetown in the frame. The 99ers would not go away as former Raider Josh Colosimo got revenge at the 16:05 mark and cut the lead to two goals heading into the final period.
The 99ers came out guns-blazing in the third period, determined to tie the game up. The Raiders did a good job maintaining the lead until a Jack Guvenal roughing penalty gave Brantford a power play opportunity, where Connor Koropatnicki would pot his ninth of the year to cut Georgetown’s lead to one.
Georgetown did a fantastic job of managing the lead and holding off Brantford’s attack until the dying seconds of the third period, where a turnover lead to 99er possession and a shot on net into a scrum. Garrett Mccabe would grab the loose puck and shoot it past Finn Marshall with five seconds to go in regulation, tying the game and sending each team home with at least a point.
A bit of a heartbreaker for the Raiders, who had maintained the lead quite well in the third. However, overtime is where Georgetown looked to get revenge and finish the game in their favour, which they did.
Off the opening face-off in overtime, Jack Guvenal circled back to his own zone to assess the play in front of him before finding a cutting Quinn Tavares mid-stride heading over the Raider blue line and into the 99er zone on a partial break.
Evin Kojokaro whacked Quinn’s stick from his hands, which resulted in a penalty shot for Tavares. Quinn made no mistake on this opportunity to end the game, skating in on the left side and going top shelf with a backhand shot over Dylan Grover’s shoulder to send the Raiders back to Georgetown with two points. You can see the goal here.
For the Raiders, this was a must-win game over a team below them in the standings. Aside from the third period lead being taken at the end of regulation, the Raiders looked great and confident. Coming away from this one, the Raiders now sit in a tie for fifth spot in the West with Burlington; both clubs have 61 points. Georgetown is just five back of Buffalo for fourth spot and one point up on Oakville for seventh place. It’s safe to say that it’s going to be an exciting race to the finish for multiple teams, including your Raiders.
The next, and second last, regular season Georgetown home game is tomorrow (Feb. 28) at 7:30 p.m. as the Raiders welcome the Trenton Golden Hawks to Alcott Arena. Tickets are $15 at the door, with doors opening at 7 p.m.
Fans can bring their game stamp to Harvey’s/Swiss Chalet for 20 per cent off their order. Make sure you come out to support your Raiders as the push for the post season.
Catch all Raiders games live on flohockey.tv.
