DAN CEARNS The StandardSCUGOG: The Port Perry Lumberjacks continued their pre-season action with a game against Orillia and two against Frankford.
The Orillia game was held on Wednesday, September 4th, at Scugog Arena. The Lumberjacks would get on the board first. Austin Fata scored a power-play goal three and a half minutes into the first period. But the Orillia Terriers scored three consecutive times later in the period, and the Lumberjacks trailed the game 3-1.
The Terriers would add to the lead a little over a minute into the second period, making it a 4-1 game. Four minutes later, Andrew Naccarato-Soule cut the deficit in half with a goal. But the Terriers would score late in the period, and it was a 5-2 game after 40 minutes of play.
Four and a half minutes into the third period, the Terriers scored again, making it a 6-2 game. The Lumberjacks would attempt a comeback with goals from Naccarato-Soule and Mac Connelly, but they fell short, losing 6-4.
The Lumberjacks travelled to Frankford for a game against the Huskies on Saturday, September 7th.
The Huskies scored five times in the first period, including a power play goal, and the Lumberjacks trailed 5-0.
Nearly eight minutes into the second period, the Huskies scored again to make it 6-0. But, over 11 minutes in, Cameron Marshall scored a power-play goal, cutting the deficit to 6-1.
But a Huskies goal two minutes into the third period put the game out of reach, and the Lumberjacks lost 7-1.The next day, Sunday, September 8th, the Lumberjacks hosted the Huskies at Scugog Arena. Prior to the game, the Lumberjacks held two alumni games of players from the Flamingos and MoJacks. There was an over-40 game and an under-40 game.
“With this whole exhibition series and with the alumni, we’re just trying to build a culture. We’re trying to be a place where local [players] want to play and [players] outside of our jurisdiction also want to come play. We want to be a destination, and we want to be a contender. We want to move up the ladder,” general manager Tom Parish told The Standard.
Over eight minutes into the game against Frankford, Tommy Campbell scored a power-play goal, giving the Lumberjacks the first lead of the game.
But the Huskies would strike three times in the second period, and the Lumberjacks trailed 3-1. Nearly eight and a half minutes into the third period, the Huskies extended the lead to 4-1 with a goal. Eighty seconds later, Mac Connelly scored, making it a 4-2 game. But the Huskies added an empty net goal late in the period, and the Lumberjacks lost 5-2.
Mr. Parish explained what his expectations are for this season’s Lumberjacks team.
“Improved. I think we’re much improved. I think we’re a little deeper. We’ve got some guys from our core coming back who are expected to be better. We’ve made a couple of trades and added some key players, so we’re pretty excited.”
The Lumberjacks have one more pre-season game left when they host the Lakefield Chiefs at Scugog Arena on Wednesday, September 11th. That game will start at 8 p.m. The Lumberjacks open their regular season schedule on Saturday, September 14th, against the Little Britain Merchants in Little Britain at 7:30 p.m.
The Lumberjack's first home game of the regular season will be held on Sunday, September 15th, at Scugog Arena at 2:25 p.m. They will face the Caledon Golden Hawks in that game.
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