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League News
Eskasoni fighting hard for playoff berth
The Membertou Jr. Miners are doing everything humanely possible with their resources at hand and finally crawled into sole position of third place in the Sid Rowe Division Saturday evening at home. Meanwhile, the Eskasoni Jr. Eagles still valiantly fighting for the fourth and final playoff berth in the Rowe Division, lost 2-0 to the Pictou County Scotians. The following is a recap of play Saturday night.
Pictou County Scotians 2 Eskasoni Jr. Eagles 0
The Jr. Eagles fought the 2nd Place Scotians to the bitter end and desperately needed a win to enhance a chance at a playoff spot. It appeared as if the Eagles were at least gong to gain a point at least until the Scotians Camdyn Burgess scored on the power-play with 1:46 remaining in regulation to give Pictou a 1-0 lead. The Jr. Eagles then pulled their goalie to no avail as Jack Tompkins popped one into an empty net in the dying seconds to give the Scotians their 16th win in 27 games for 36 points. The Scotians have also lost four games via overtime or in a shoot-out. Lane Lochead assisted on Burgess’s game-winner giving him 30 assists on the season to go along with 14 goals for 44 points and a five-point lead over Devin Meagher of East Hants for the League Scoring Lead.
Eskasoni meanwhile has not been officially eliminated despite having only five games remaining in their regular season. The Eagles now trail the third place Jr. Miners by 8 points and the Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates by 7 points. Needless to say today’s game with the Jr. Miners and next Friday’s game with the Strait Pirates in Port Hawkesbury will mean everything as to whether the Jr. Eagles even have a shot entering their final 3 games of the 24-25 season. Pictou outshot Eskasoni 34-30 in Saturday’s game in Eskasoni.
Antigonish 7 Membertou 6
In a wild see-saw affair in Membertou Saturday evening, the Jr. Bulldogs Tully Grant finally scored 48 seconds into the five-minute sudden death overtime to give Antigonish a 7-6 win and their 24th win in 27 games. The Jr. Miners fell to 9-14-2 but the point they earned in the overtime loss moved them one ahead of the fourth place Port Hawkesbury Strait Pirates for third place in the Rowe Division. The Jr. Miners are still struggling on special teams as they have connected only 12% of the time on power-plays this season while only killing off penalties 71% of the time. If they could improve these two areas, the Jr. Miners could be in better position regardless of they might face in the opening round of the playoffs.
In Saturday’s home game, the Jr. Miners were tied with the Bulldogs at 1-1 and 2-2 after the opening two periods before the teams scored an Avalanche of goals in the third period with each team connecting for four goals apiece. Max Baldwin for Antigonish and Trey Sturge for the Jr. Miners were the only goals of the first period. Sturge with his second of the game and Brody MacPherson of the Bulldogs knot the game at 2-2 after forty minutes. In the third, the Bulldogs went up 3-2 on a marker from Cohen Pictou before Adam Hicks tied it at 3 for the Jr. Miners. Cameron Bell then gave Antigonish a 4-3 lead before Jarred Hicks tied it at 4-4 for Membertou. Brody MacPherson with his second of the game on the power-play gave the Bulldogs a 5-4 lead. Hudson Clarke and Tyler Seymour then bth scored for the Jr. Miners 1:20 apart with less than five minutes to play in regulation before Cohen Pictou came back with his 2nd of the game with only 57 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 6-6. Tully Grant with his overtime winner also collected a pair assists for the Jr. Bulldogs.