Stratford's Danny Heath pursues Listowel's Steven Grant around the goal during their game in Listowel. (Photo by Cory Smith)

Pair of home-and-homes highlight weekend of GOJHL action 

If the Stratford Warriors and Listowel Cyclones didn’t dislike each other before this weekend, they sure do now. The teams faced off in a home-and-home series beginning on Friday night in Listowel and culminating on Sunday evening in Stratford. 

Normally dominant at home, Listowel struggled out of the gate on Friday night as Stratford stormed out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Blake Wideman, Sheldon Pryce and Cole Melady. Melady’s tally was a shorthanded marker with just over three minutes to play in the second period, and seemed to wake up the Cyclones. David Mabey got Listowel on the board just nine seconds after Melady’s goal, scoring on the same powerplay. He then proceeded to take a cross-checking penalty, putting his team down a man. The Cycs responded by cutting the lead to one, as Trent Verbeek scored a shorthanded goal of his own to make the score 3-2 heading into the third. 

One minute into the third period, Listowel’s Tyler Healey took a pass from Mabey and deposited it behind Stratford goaltender Tyler Parr to tie the game. The Steve Kerr Arena crowd of nearly 550 finally had life. The excitement would only last about eight minutes, though, as Callan Christner scored midway through the third to give Stratford back the lead, 4-3. Parr shut the door the rest of the way and Melady scored his second shorthanded goal of the game with under a minute to play, sealing the 5-3 win for the Warriors. Parr made 22 saves in the victory, while Evan Morrison made 19 saves in the loss. 

The teams met again on Sunday night in Stratford, in a rare home game for the Warriors on any day that isn’t Friday. The teams traded goals in the first period, as Listowel’s Carter McLlwain opened the scoring before Pryce got his second in as many games for Stratford. The deadlock didn’t last long, as Craig McKague gave Listowel the lead just over a minute into the second frame, with Mabey earning the assist. After the teams combined for 20 penalty minutes in the first two periods, the whistles were away for a clean third. Unfortunately for the Warriors, that amounted to two Cyclones goals that iced the game. Tyler Hotson scored two minutes in, then McLlwain scored his second of the night to put the game away. Dixon Grimes stopped 23 of 24 shots for Listowel, while Rhett Kimmel took the loss for Stratford, stopping 17 of 21. 

There was another home-and-home series going on in the GOJHL’s Midwest over the weekend, as Elmira visited Brampton on Friday night before hosting the Bombers on Sunday. This series was far less close. 

The Sugar Kings jumped all over the Bombers on Friday night, scoring four first-period goals on route to a 9-3 drubbing in Brampton. Brody Leblanc scored a first-period hat-trick, including two on the powerplay. Mason McMahon and Brett Allen then made the score 6-1 Elmira in the second period, before three Sugar Kings goals in nine minutes during the third period officially made the game a route. Leblanc and Jeremey Goodwin led the offense for Elmira, each with four points. On Sunday night, it was McMahon’s turn to have a big game, scoring twice in just a minute and 36 seconds of game time, and adding an assist in the second period as well. The Sugar Kings again cruised past the Bombers, this time to a 5-1 score. Greg Brassard stopped 21 shots for Elmira, highlighted by a 10-save second period. 

Elsewhere in the Midwest, the Waterloo Siskins beat the Brantford Bandits 7-3 on Saturday before losing 3-1 to the Cambridge Redhawks on Sunday afternoon. Cambridge was coming off a 6-4 home loss at the hands of the Kitchener Dutchmen on Saturday night. The Dutchies continued their dominance on Sunday afternoon, beating Brantford at home, 8-3. Kitchener remains tied with Elmira atop the Midwest, Followed closely by Listowel, Cambridge, and Stratford, as Brampton, Waterloo, and Brantford round out the bottom three teams.