A late comeback came just short for North York, who lost 3-2 to the Oakville Blades on Sunday afternoon.
The Blades took the 1-0 lead before the first period hit the halfway point. Garrett Pyke got the contest started after taking a pass from Bailey Newton at the point, sending a hard slap shot past Colby Muise to make it 1-0.
Muise stopped 10 of 11 shots in the first period, but would unfortunately meet an early end in the second. 50 seconds into the second, Jack Ricketts made it 2-0 after taking Jacob Buch’s feed and scoring short side to double up the lead.
Less than three minutes later, the Rangers found themselves down by three. This time, Joe Kennedy scored his first OJHL goal after taking the puck in from the blue line and walking in and scoring glove side, ending Muise’s night in favour of Jett Alexander.
North York needed some power play luck to get themselves back into the game and it worked out in their favour. With 9:06 left in the game, Vegas Golden Knights prospect Nick Campoli scored his fourth goal of the contest after sending a hard wrist shot past Chris Elliot, beating the Blades goaltender on the 5-on-3 opportunity to make it a close hockey game.
With 37 seconds left in the game, Noah Robinson was able to score a huge goal to make the game close. After a couple of whacks at the puck, Robinson was able to just push it over the goal line, giving the Rangers some extra life. Unfortunately for the home squad, it wasn’t enough as Oakville would squeak out with the 3-2 victory.
North York’s next contest is on Monday against Cobourg before playing three games in three nights next weekend. The team will host the Toronto Patriots on Sunday at the Herb for a 3:00 PM start, a game that should prove fantastic.
Photo from Steven Ellis/North York Rangers
