Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Redmen edge Rock 9-8 behind 6 assists from Shawn Williams


Shawn Williams had 6 assists as Brooklin beat
Oakville. (File photo: Tim Prothero)
The Brooklin Redmen won a tight back-and-forth matchup with the Oakville Rock 9-8 Monday night. The Redmen got a hat trick from Kyle Aquin and six assists from Shawn Williams while Rob Hellyer led the way for the Rock with three goals and one assist. Brooklin trailed 3-2 after the first period but scored the first four goals of the second to take the lead. Oakville responded with three goals in less than a minute, from 14:57 to 15:44, to tie things up 6-6 heading into the second intermission. Those goals chased goalie Steve Fryer from the Brooklin net but he returned for the third period and was excellent for the Redmen, turning aside breakaways and in-close shots to allow them to hold on for the win.

Curtis Knight and Kiel Matisz scored the first two goals of the third period to give Brooklin the lead. Once again, though, the Rock scored in quick succession to tie things up. Shayne Adams put one in at 10:17. Just under a minute later, Billy Hostrawser broker out of the Oakville end with a loose ball and pushed it towards the Brooklin net. Hostrawser passed to Jordan MacIntosh on the left wing and he flung it back to a trailing Ethan O'Connor, who ripped a bounce shot home to tie the game 8-8.


Less than a minute later, Williams hit a cutting Derek Hopcroft who caught the pass and released a shot all in one motion to put home what would prove to be the winning goal. Williams, who now has no goals and 21 assists in four games this season, said he's not worried about putting the ball in the net himself. “The goals come from all over. It's a great group of young guys that I get to play with. As a goal scorer you want to score, but if you win you don't worry about it,” Williams said.

Oakville Head Coach Phil Sanderson was left once again wondering what might have been. Oakville has lost five games on the floor, two of them by two goals and three by one goal, including a pair in overtime. “I stare at my ceiling after these games trying to figure out what we can do right,” he said. “Thinking about what we did wrong is getting a little tiresome. I wouldn't mind getting a couple of Ws in the win column.”

Sanderson said the mood in the locker room is still positive and the team still believes they can qualify for the playoffs. “The mistakes we're making are minor but they're costing us big,” Sanderson said. “They're very fixable mistakes. Just a little bit of inexperience in part. Then again, we're still growing and pulling in the same direction so I think it's just a matter of time before we get that one. Then one leads to two and two leads to three and we're on a roll.”


The teams meet again this Wednesday when Oakville travels to Brooklin for an 8pm game.