PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2023.
Sports Ironmen fall to Patriots in tight game seven
End of the road Wingham Ironmen captain Kyle Stanbury, right, celebrates the only Ironmen goal scored last Saturday night in Wingham, as the Ironmen fell by a score of 6-1. The Mount Forest Patriots would force a definitive game seven that night, which the Patriots won on Monday night by a score of 4-1. (John Stephenson photo)
By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen The season is over for the Wingham Ironmen after a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Patriots in Mount Forest in game seven of their second-round, best-of-seven series on Monday night. Wingham scored the first goal of the night when Matt Tolton scored his second of the playoffs at 2:02 of the first period, a power play goal, assisted by Jonah Burley and Coleson Fischer. Mount Forest would equalize soon after, however, when Dylan Szymanowski scored an unassisted goal, his sixth of the playoffs, at 8:22 of the first period. There was no scoring in the second period. It wasn’t until 1:53 of the third period that Dylan Szymanowski of the Patriots scored his second goal of the game and seventh of the playoffs, assisted by Aidan Doig on the power play. The game would stay that way, with the Ironmen trailing by a score of 2-1, until the dying second of the game when Wingham pulled goaltender Garrett Golley for the extra attacker. Mount Forest would then score two empty-net goals to put the game out of reach for the Ironmen. Brody Leblanc scored at 19:17 of the period, assisted by Elijah Brahaney, and Bryan Richardson sealed the deal with an unassisted, empty-net goal at 19:55 of the period, ending Wingham’s season. Vance Meyer earned the win in the Mount Forest net, stopping 32 of the 33 shots he faced, while Wingham’s Garrett Golley was handed the loss, stopping 29 of the 31 shots he faced. Mount Forest’s Brody Leblanc was called for tripping just 23 seconds into the game, while Turner Mckenzie was called for interference at 15:06 of the first.
Charlie Mckenzie of the Patriots was called for interference 51 seconds into the second period, followed by a hooking call against Riley Torrie of the Patriots at 4:43 and an unsportsmanlike conduct call against Nigel Kreager of the Ironmen and a roughing call against Cameron Lytle, both at 8:50 of the second. Micah Kraayenbrink of the Ironmen was then called for interference at 18:09 of the period and then again at the end of the period for leaving the penalty bench. To start the third, Charlie Mckenzie of the Patriots was called for interference at 5:41, followed by the last penalty of the game, a fiveminute major slashing penalty and ejection for Wingham’s Dawson Fahrer at 19:55 when the final empty-net goal was scored against the Ironmen. Nearly 1,110 people packed the Mount Forest and District Sports Complex to watch the game. Last week, the Ironmen fought back and pulled even in the series, with each team winning two games each, on March 29 in Wingham, when the home team claimed victory by a score of 5-1. Captain Kyle Stanbury opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the playoffs, a power play marker at 1:52 of the first period, assisted by Coleson Fischer. Wingham also scored the second goal of the game when Micah Kraayenbrink scored his second of the playoffs at 18:06 of the first period, assisted by Tayt Bramhill. Mount Forest would score its only goal of the game at the threeminute mark of the second period when Brody Leblanc found the back of the net on the power play, assisted by Dylan Szymanowski. Wingham’s Nigel Kreager would then score at 9:21 of the period, his
second of the playoffs, assisted by Noah Wettlaufer and Tayt Bramhill, followed by a Noah Wettlaufer goal scored just 13 seconds later, his second of the playoffs, assisted by Micah Kraayenbrink and Dawson Fahrer. Coleson Fischer then put the game away for Wingham with his third goal of the playoffs at 11:45 of the third period, an unassisted power play goal. Garrett Golley won the game for the Ironmen in net, stopping 23 of 24 shots, while Vance Meyer was tagged with the loss, stopping 22 of the 27 shots he faced. Mount Forest’s Matt McLellan was called for tripping at 1:39 of the first period, followed by three Wingham cross-checking penalties: Tyson Fischer at 5:02 and Jonah Burley at 10:52 and again at 15:50. Burley was called for interference at 2:32 of the second period, followed by a hooking call against Mount Forest’s Kyle Detweiler at 6:47 and slashing and head contact calls against Bryan Richardson of the Patriots at 11:24 and 14:15 of the second period, respectively. Wingham goaltender Garrett Golley was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at 14:15 of the period, a penalty that Nigel Kreager served, and Turner Mckenzie of the Ironmen was called for hooking at 18:07 of the period. Things got a little rough in the third period. Mount Forest’s Bryan Richardson was called for head contact at 9:47, followed by a bench/coach penalty called against the Patriots, served by Reid Caswell. Kyle Stanbury of the Ironmen was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at 11:45, followed by a two-minute head contact penalty and a four-minute head contact penalty called against Jordan Leitch
at 12:57 and 17:39 of the period, respectively. Garrett Golley of the Ironmen was called for interference at 18:17 of the period, a penalty served by Chase Lorenz. At 19:06 of the period, Aaron McGuirk of the Patriots was called for slashing and then ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct, followed by four penalties assessed to Mount Forest’s Reid Caswell at 19:09 two minutes each for instigator and aggressor fighting penalties, a fiveminute major fighting penalty and a game ejection. The Ironmen would then take a one-game advantage with a win on the road on March 31 by a score of 5-4. Micah Kraayenbrink of the Ironmen scored his third goal of the playoffs to open the scoring, finding the back of the net at 2:05 of the period, assisted by Noah Wettlaufer and Coleson Fischer. Mount Forest would even the score and jump out ahead with a goal by Dylan Szymanowski at 13:02 of the period, assisted by Brody Leblanc, and a power play goal scored by Kyle Detweiler, assisted by Leblanc again, at 17:18. At 19:42 of the first period, Patrick Galloway tied the game for the Ironmen with his second goal of the playoffs, assisted by Kyle Stanbury and Micah Kraayenbrink. Wingham would score two goals to open the second period. The first was scored by Austin Becker, his fourth of the playoffs, on the power play, assisted by Noah Bloemberg and Nate Bloemberg. The second goal was also scored on the power play, at 6:30 of the period, by Patrick Galloway, his third of the playoffs and second of the game. Kyle Stanbury assisted on the marker. Mount Forest’s Jordan Leitch
then scored at 9:30 of the second period, assisted by Kyle Detweiler and Riley Torrie on the power play. Galloway would complete his hat trick with a goal at 2:34 of the third period, assisted by Matt Tolton and Kyle Stanbury. Mount Forest would score again, with Brody Leblanc scoring his seventh goal of the playoffs, assisted by Aaron McGuirk, but it was not enough, giving the Ironmen a 5-4 victory. Garrett Golley earned the victory for the Ironmen in net, stopping 20 of the 24 shots he faced. Vance Meyer played the first period in net for the Patriots, stopping eight of 10 shots, but Tristan Szymanowski would relieve him for the rest of the game, stopping 18 of 21 shots and earning the loss for his team. Wingham’s Turner Mckenzie was called for holding at the eightminute mark of the first period, followed by an interference call against Mount Forest’s Matthew Weiler at 8:41. Jonah Burley was called for cross-checking and head contact at 8:59 and 13:43 of the period, respectively, followed by Wingham’s Micah Kraayenbrink serving a too many men on the ice penalty at 15:51. Brody Leblanc of the Patriots was called for slashing at 1:01 of the second period and then again for boarding at 5:48 of the second. Wingham’s Dawson Fahrer was called for slashing at 8:09, followed by head contact penalties called against Mount Forest’s Aaron McGuirk at 10:49 and Wingham’s Tayt Bramhill at 16:37. Mount Forest’s Kyle Detweiler was also penalized at 16:37 of the second period, but for unsportsmanlike conduct, while Jordan Leitch of the Patriots was called for slashing at 17:45 of the second. Mount Forest’s Adam Murray Continued on page 9
High and outside Mount Forest Patriots’ goaltender Vance Meyer is seen reaching for a high shot on Saturday night in a 6-1 victory over the Wingham Ironmen in game six of their series, while Ironmen captain Kyle Stanbury waits in vain for a rebound. (John Stephenson photo)
