Five-goal swing lifts Raiders into third place with third straight win

PICTON – After going back-and-forth with the Picton Pirates for the better part of two periods, the Napanee Raiders shifted the ice in their favour with two goals in a 26-second span in a 7-3 road win Thursday.

With the game tied at 2, Trent Williams managed to get his stick on a knuckling shot from Jackson Barnes from the left point through traffic that just fooled Pirates goaltender Nick McGrayne enough to restore a Napanee lead 17:28 into the second.  On the ensuing play, a Pirate mishandled the puck at his own blue line, allowing Ben Carter to walk in alone and blast the eventual game-winner into the net.

The Raiders carried the momentum in the third, adding the next three goals.  Marshall McFarland squeezed a shot from distance through McGrayne’s pads to add to the cushion.  Blake Aylesworth and Ben White were both able to skate to the net and tuck the puck home as the game got out of reach.   Jack Osborne stopped the streak with a goal for the home side with 4:11 remaining.

Early on, the Pirates made the Raiders pay twice on the power play as the home side found players in the low slot in front of Napanee goaltender Logan Vale.  Picton captain Ian Harrison opened the scoring just before the five-minute mark and Gerrit Kempers knotted it on another man advantage four-minutes into the second.  Those goals bookended Napanee tallies by Reid Lambert and Christos Chronis in the first period.

The victory gave the Raiders three straight wins, vaulting them into third place as they match Picton’s 15 points with one-game in hand. Both teams are one point ahead of Amherstview.  Napanee plays Frankford at home Friday at 7:30 p.m.