Little Britain Merchants earn lone local victory in weekend PJHL action

DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard

It was a mixed weekend, for local teams in the Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL), with the Little Britain Merchants delivering the area’s only win, while the Uxbridge Bruins and Port Perry LumberJacks came up short in their match-ups.

A lively crowd of nearly 500 fans packed the Bear Den, on Friday night, November 21st, as the Uxbridge Bruins battled the Georgina Ice. The visitors escaped with a narrow 2-1 victory.

After a scoreless first period, Uxbridge struck first, on the power play, when Ryan Shier buried his 13th of the season, almost five minutes into the middle stanza, set up by Jack Kemp and Jordan Bonner. However, Georgina responded, late in the frame, on a goal from Sebastien Ferris, to even the score. The Ice took their first lead, with eight minutes to go, in the third, when Austin Paulmert converted on the power play. Uxbridge pressed late but couldn’t beat, Georgina netminder, Ben Camilleri down the stretch.

Despite the loss, Bruins goaltender, Robby DiMaria received good news earlier in the day, being named the Orr Division Player of the Month, for October. Uxbridge looks to rebound, with a road game Thursday night, in Bowmanville, against the Clarington Eagles, before returning home for a marquee Battle of North Durham, on Friday, at 7:45 p.m., against the Port Perry LumberJacks.

The Little Britain Merchants put on the weekend’s most impressive performance, rolling to an 8-4 win, over the Caledon Golden Hawks, on Saturday night.

After falling behind early, the Merchants answered with seven goals, over the next 40 minutes, to seize control of the game. Tyler Johnston led the charge, with a hat trick (goals 7, 8, and 9 of the season), while Beckham Reznik added a goal and three assists. Keegan Paylor chipped in with a goal and three helpers of his own. Other Little Britain goals came from Jason Shears, Quinn Boyle, Calvin Dickinson, and Reznik. Julian Arcella earned the win between the pipes, for the Shopkeepers, who continue to build momentum in the Orr Division standings.

On Sunday afternoon, at Scugog Arena, the Port Perry LumberJacks fell, 7-3, to the Georgina Ice, who capped an impressive weekend with back-to-back wins. Port Perry started strong with a goal, just 90 seconds in, from Dylan Leslie, and added another later, in the first, when Parker Lemay scored on the power play. The teams traded chances through two periods, with Brady McPhail tallying, in the second, for the LumberJacks. Still, the Ice took over, in the third, scoring four unanswered goals, including two empty-netters, to put the game out of reach. Georgina’s Alessandro Petreccia had a standout performance, scoring four times, including the eventual game-winner, on a power play, early in the period.