Latest news with #MarkMcIntosh
Ottawa Citizen
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
First goal boosts Barons to semifinal series win over Napanee Raiders
Article content A goal that was scored with nearly 40 minutes still left to play was being called the game's most important one as the Napanee Raiders and Hanover Barons clashed Thursday night in Game 7 of their Provincial Junior Hockey League semifinal. Article content Coming only 40 seconds into the second period on a power play, the tally snapped a scoreless tie and gave the Barons just the boost they needed to down the home-ice Raiders — despite there being almost two full periods (39:20) remaining. Article content Article content The teams traded the next two goals of the middle frame, leaving Hanover with a 2-1 lead, and then the visitors outscored the Raiders 3-1 in the third (including an empty-net goal) to capture the game, 5-2, and the best-of-seven series, 4-3. Article content 'They are a hard team to play against when you have to open up and let your guard down defensively to push for more offence. We tried to continue to come back with offensive pushes, but they continually answered, and that is what good teams do this time of year.' Article content Barons star forward Mark McIntosh, who chalked up four points (two goals, two assists) in the game for a series-high total of 15 points (seven goals, eight assists), netted the momentum-generating first marker and then drew an assist on Kyle Maloney's goal at 13:02. Napanee's Blake Aylesworth, at 16:27, narrowed the gap to 2-1. Article content Article content To lead off the third period, McIntosh, a 21-year-old from Elora who paced the Barons in the regular season with a 28-44-72 scoring line and enters the PJHL final with a league-high post-season scoring line of 23-31-54, scored on a power play at 7:07. He was followed 53 seconds later by Napanee's Trent Williams, making the score 3-2 in Hanover's favour. Article content Hagerman was proud of the way his team played during the regular season and playoffs. Article content 'Yeah, this was a close-knit group that came together after the Christmas break like I have never seen before,' he said. 'They never let adversity get them down. They constantly just worked and put the team first day after day. This was a special group that I hope made the community proud.' Article content Napanee entered the break (Dec. 23 to Jan. 1) in third place in Tod Division standings, seven points back of the eventual pennant-winning Frankford Huskies. The Raiders went 13-1-1 the rest of the way to finish second, just two points behind Frankford and 10 ahead of the No. 3 Amherstview Jets.
Ottawa Citizen
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
Napanee Raiders comeback falls one goal short
Article content A two-goal surge in the final 67 seconds of the second period boosted the Hanover Barons into a 4-1 lead and they survived a two-goal assault in the last few minutes of the third to beat the visiting Napanee Raiders, 4-3, and force a seventh and deciding game in their Provincial Junior Hockey League semifinal. Article content With the series now tied 3-3, Game 7 is scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. and is expected to be played in front of a full house of 1,000-plus at Napanee's Best and Bash Arena. The winner will advance to the Clarence Schmalz Cup final against the Essex 73s, who beat the New Hamburg Firebirds in the other semifinal, 4-1. Article content Article content Napanee and Hanover traded first-period goals, with Raiders defenceman Erik MacNiel opening the scoring at 7:57 on a power play and Barons forward Mark McIntosh replying 15 seconds later. Article content Article content Curtis Arnold put Hanover up 2-1 at 6:12 of the second period, setting the stage for a late-period offensive outburst that proved to provide the Barons with enough goals for the win. McIntosh, with his second goal of the game and league-leading 21st of the post-season, scored at 18:53 and was followed at 19:59 by Ryan Colquhoun. Article content 'We were playing a very solid game and creating lots of chances in the second period … and in the last two minutes we made two mistakes that led to two goals, simple as that,' Napanee head coach Ben Hagerman said. Article content '(Hanover) is so powerful offensively that they do not need many chances to score, and as soon as we gave them too much time and space and allowed them to skate through the neutral zone, they were able to capitalize, and that was truly the difference in the hockey game.' Article content The score remained 4-1 until the last two-plus minutes of the third period. Napanee's Andrew Carr, at 17:13, notched his team-leading 17th marker of the post-season, and Michael Patrick, at 18:41, tallied to make it a 4-3 game and keep the Raiders alive. A head contact penalty to Christos Chronis 18 seconds later, however, ended the threat. Article content 'I was proud of the way the guys continued to play hard and push to create scoring chances,' Hagerman said. 'We actually had some really good opportunities to score before our second goal as well. After the third goal, we had lots of momentum, and puck possession … unfortunately we took a penalty and that made it really challenging to score.'
