The Elora Mohawks remain undefeated for the season, but they no longer have a clean sheet either.
Matt Hummel and Kyle Dobbie had five points each in a 10-6 Elora win over Welland, but the Tribe's powerplay went 1-for-10 in a 9-9 tie against the winless Guelph Regals last Sunday afternoon in Guelph.
Against Welland, Elora got off to a strong start and appeared ready to blow the visiting Warlords out of the water. Hummel scored the first of his three goals 22 seconds into the game, while Scott Cook added another goal 1:26 later to give the Tribe a 2-0 cushion.
Welland goalie Connor Danko settled down after that and kept Elora off the board for the rest of the period. Alex Gleeson added to the lead early in the third, but the visitors woke up and began to fight back. After Welland made it a 4-2 game midway through the second period, Elora ran off four goals in 10 minutes to take an 8-2 lead.
The Tribe couldn't hold the momentum, as Welland's Josh Eldridge scored with three seconds to go in the second. The Warlords followed that up with three more goals to open the third period to trim the lead to 8-6 with 11:48 to play. Hummel scored his final goal of the game - Elora's fourth on the powerplay - to halt the Warlords' streak. Todd Scarrow added his second goal of the night into an empty net to finish the scoring.
Hummel (3 goals, 2 assists), Dobbie (1,4), Scarrow (2 goals), Gleeson, Evan Benham, Cook, Kyle Goss (1 goal each), Ricky McGarr, Dan Keane (2 assists each), Jake Weidner, Brady Heseltine and Brent Murphy (1 assist each) netted points, while McGarr made 40 saves to earn the win.
Following the game, Mohawks head coach Dean George gave credit to Welland and said beating them showed that Elora has a little more toughness than perhaps some people thought.
"They're a good, physical team up front, and I think we lost our focus and that let them back into the game," he said. "We had the game in hand during the second period, but they scored a timely goal and that gave them momentum for the third period. I also think it shows that we have the character you need to hold on for a win like that, but I know we need to be better."
Hummel said the Tribe's plan was to attack Welland's size with their speed right from the start, and that was in evidence early on. The Warlords clawed their way back into the game with some timely shooting, but Hummel said the Mohawks never varied from their plan.
"Size doesn't matter when you work together as a team," he said. "We might have got away from our plan a little when they made their comeback, but we stuck to it in the long run. We just need to keep working at giving our maximum effort every time out."
In Guelph on Sunday, the Mohawks struggled to put away a winless Regals team when they had plenty of chances to do so.
Elora held 4-3 and 7-5 leads at the first two intermissions, but the Regals rallied for a 3-1 advantage in the third period. Guelph got goals from David and Jordan Godin five minutes apart to tie the score at 7-7, but Mark Pfohl scored his fourth goal of the afternoon to put the Tribe in front with 9:39 to play. Dan Fotopoulos tied the game up as the extra attacker when Guelph pulled goalie Jeremy Snider with under two minutes to play.
In overtime, Keane scored to put Elora ahead, but Mike Cazzola netted the tying goal with just over two minutes left in the extra frame.
Dobbie led the Elora attack with six points (1,5), while Pfohl finished with five (4,1). Keane (3,1), Weidner (3 assists), Hummel (1 goal), Jordan Denny, Dan Humphrey, Scarrow, Benham, Cook and Kyle Goss (1 assist each) also hit the scoresheet. Humphrey made 37 saves for Elora, while Snider tallied 43 saves for Guelph.
After not having lost a third period on the scoreboard all season, the Mohawks have been beaten in the final 20 minutes the last two games - something that didn't escape the attention of George.
"Our guys need to realize that it's going to take a full 60-minute effort every time out, and we have to be better," he said. "We still have a ton of work to do. We need to get better on face-offs and loose balls. I'm not worried about the amount of shots we're getting or where they're coming from, but I am concerned about the placement."
With two dates against Orangeville coming in their next three games, George was blunt in his assessment of the Mohawks to this point of the season - if the Founders Cup tournament were held this coming weekend, Elora wouldn't win.
"I don't think it's a matter of convincing these guys of anything - as we sit right now, we're not a championship team," he said. "Nobody here is or can be complacent. We're all trying to get better, and we will be better this week against Orangeville."
Elora welcomes the Northmen to town on Wednesday, May 12, for an 8 p.m. game. The Sarnia Pacers stop in on Saturday, May 15, to tangle with the Mohawks (7 p.m. start time), and then Elora heads to Orangeville on Monday, May 17, to take on the Hornheads. Game time at Tony Rose Arena is 8 p.m.