BRANTFORD – After dropping a pair of close back-to-back decisions late last week, the Listowel Junior Cyclones rebounded with a victory on Oct. 3 in Brantford to close out their weekend action.
Listowel (2-2-1) added to Brantford’s early-season woes on Sunday night, thumping the eighth-place Bandits (0-4-0) 8-1. The Cyclones scored seven unanswered goals – two in the first period and five in the second – during the rout, with captain Jaden Goldie and first-year forward Travis Verbeek each registering two goals and two assists.
Goldie has set a torrid pace through his first five games of the season, putting up four goals and five assists to lead his club in points while sitting second overall in GOJHL scoring. Verbeek’s two tallies give him three on the season.
Also scoring for Listowel on Sunday were Kian Harron (2), Danny Scott (1), Jackson Phillips (3) and Tate Brenner (2). Brenner and Phillips both added a pair of assists, while Scott and Harron finished with two points apiece.
Listowel goaltender Carter McDougall improved to 2-0-0 on the young season with a 19-save performance. Matteo Porporino and Vyacheslav Gordeichuk allowed four goals each in the Brantford crease.
Adam Hoff scored the lone goal for the Bandits, who went scoreless with the man advantage on two opportunities. The Cyclones went a perfect three-for-three on the power play.
Redhawks 3, Cyclones 2 (OT)
On Friday night at the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex, the Cyclones saw a narrow 2-1 lead evaporate midway through the third period, as the Cambridge Redhawks (3-1-0) rallied for a 3-2 overtime win.
After Lucas Carson opened the scoring for the visitors only 2:49 into the game, Phillips responded late in the frame to knot things up at 1-1. Cory Jewitt’s first of the season came at 6:06 of the second on the power play with assists to Cam Knight and Chet Hudson, before Matt Fries retied the game at 10:11 of the third with a power-play goal of his own to force the extra frame. Cambridge’s Tanner Bibby potted the game winner 1:51 into overtime.
Listowel’s Carter Garvie (0-2-1) stopped 32 shots to remain winless on the season, while Cambridge netminder Taylor White picked up the victory with a 28-save effort.
Just shy of 300 fans attended the Oct. 1 matchup, Listowel’s second home game of the 2021-22 season.
Cyclones 5, Centennials 7
The Ayr Centennials (1-1-1) didn’t disappoint in their GOJHL home debut on Sept. 30, rallying from an early 3-0 deficit to top the Cyclones 7-5 at the North Dumfries Community Complex.
A long-time successful Junior C centre, Ayr made the jump up to Junior B in the off-season after purchasing the former Kitchener Dutchmen franchise. The Centennials would rattle off six unanswered goals following the Cyclones jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead on first-period markers from Harron, Goldie and Hudson.
With Ayr leading 6-3 midway through the third, Phillips and Knight would get Listowel back within one before the Centennials’ Patrick Brown iced the game with his second of the night with 40 seconds remaining in regulation.
Hudson, a Listowel-born winger and 2020 Owen Sound Attack draft selection, led all skaters with a goal and two assists, his second straight three-point outing. The 18 year old has now racked up seven points through his first five games.
Garvie took the loss in the Listowel net, allowing six goals on 34 shots. Vance Meyer earned the win with 26 saves in the Ayr goal.
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The Cyclones meet the newly-minted Kitchener-Waterloo Siskins (3-1-0) in a home-and-home set this weekend, starting with a matchup at the Kerr Complex on Friday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Listowel then travels to the Waterloo Memorial Recreational Complex on Oct. 10 at 1:30 p.m.
