The Elora Mohawks saw their undefeated streak end at nine games, falling to the Owen Sound North Stars 7-4 last Thursday night in Owen Sound.
Elora took the loss after posting a 10-8 come-from-behind win in Orangeville on Monday, May 17, over the Northmen.
At Orangeville, Elora took an early 4-1 lead after the first period but then put it on cruise control and allowed the Northmen back into the game. The home side used a 6-0 run in the second period to turn a three-goal deficit into a three-goal lead - the capper to the run coming with just over a second left in the middle frame when Niall Caravello scored against Ricky McGarr from beyond the dotted line.
Elora came out for the third and rode the backs of their defenders for the first five minutes before the offence finally got back on track. Shane MacDonald and Kyle Goss scored a minute apart to trim the Northmen's lead to 7-6, then Brady Heseltine tied the game on a powerplay goal halfway through the third period.
Orangeville jumped back in front on a powerplay goal of their own two minutes later, but Elora scored three more goals in less than 90 seconds to take the lead back for good. Jordan Denny's break-away goal tied the game at 8-8, while MacDonald and Mark Pfohl put the game away for the Mohawks when they scored 35 seconds apart with four minutes to play.
MacDonald finished with three goals and four points, while Heseltine (2 goals, 1 assist), Kyle Dobbie (3 assists), Goss (2 goals), Pfohl (1,1), Denny (1 goal), Jake Weidner (1,1) and Brent Murphy (1 assist) also collected points in the win. McGarr made 35 saves in the win, while Curtis Rydall stopped 41 shots in the loss.
MacDonald said the team got reamed out between the second and third periods for their poor effort, and the captain and assistants were the ones who stepped up and laid down the law.
"They were the ones who got us going and told us what needed to be done," he said. "We just didn't battle in the second period. We watched them kick us all over the floor. We got frustrated but didn't do anything about it until the third period, and it was the defence that took charge for us."
One of MacDonald's goals helped break the Northmen's collective back - he broke out of a double team in the corner and dove across the side of the crease before tucking a shot in past Rydall as the shot clock expired. He explained that play didn't exactly start out with a goal in mind.
"I was just going to kill the clock and leave the ball back there while we made a change," he said. "Instead I saw an opening and took it hard to the net. That's what we did the whole third period - we took all our openings to the net and kept playing hard."
Three nights later in Owen Sound, the results were vastly different. Elora trailed 3-2 after the first but had tied the game after two periods at 3-3. Owen Sound took the lead back less than two minutes into the third period, but Heseltine tied the game up with his only goal of the night six minutes later.
From that point on, the North Stars exercised control of the game and forced Elora into one mistake after another. Hayden Smith scored two straight goals in a four-minute span to break the tie and put Owen Sound ahead for good. Gatlin Burt added a goal with less than a minute to play, icing the win for the North Stars.
Heseltine, Goss, Jeff Quarrie and Steve Hutchison scored for the Mohawks, while Pfohl (2) and Weidner added assists. McGarr finished with 37 saves in taking his first loss this year, while Ryan Oldrieve stopped 48 shots for the win.
Not even attempting to hide his disgust with how the Mohawks had played against the North Stars, Elora head coach Dean George said they didn't play well in what has typically been a tough arena for visiting teams.
"Owen Sound came out ready to play - they were physical defensively and they kept our offence on the perimeter all night," he said. "We we did manage to get inside on them, I thought our shot placement was very poor."
In suffering their first loss of the season, Elora saw the North Stars creep to just a point behind them in the Midwest division standings. George knows that the Tribe missed out on a golden chance to solidify their position on top and keep Owen Sound and Orangeville in a chase position. Instead, he now has to figure out a way to make Elora less predictable and prepare them for a tough second-half schedule.
"We have to stay focused on what we're doing here - our goal is still to make the playoffs and win this division," he said. "We need to get those extra home games against teams like Owen Sound in the playoffs. It's important that the guys stay focused on the here and now, on each shift and each possession. We can't afford to overlook Guelph and London just because we have games against Owen Sound and Six Nations coming up on our schedule."
George pointed out the fact that London has improved greatly, citing their defensive play as an area of great improvement on past Blue Devils teams. With a big, physical back end, he knows that's not a sure two points any more. It's not all negative, but George and his staff know they've got their work cut out for them coming down the back stretch of their season.
"We just have to go back to the fundamentals," he said. "Defensively, we need to be better on pick and rolls as well as closing gaps, and on offence we need to go a better job of getting to the net and picking up loose balls. It's all about being a tougher team mentally. There needs to be a desire and want for it - sometimes we live on our talent but we don't bring the work ethic to our games."
Elora finishes the month of May when they host the Guelph Regals in Elora on Saturday, May 29 at 7 p.m., and then they head to London on Sunday, May 30. Game time is set for 7 p.m.