Ironmen remain in fourth place with one game left to play

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

The Wingham Ironmen kept up their winning ways over the weekend, winning both of their games thanks to two, eight-goal performances over the Walkerton Capitals and the Goderich Flyers.

 

On Saturday, the Ironmen beat the Flyers in Goderich by a score of 8-2, which came just one day after the locals defeated the Capitals in Walkerton by a score of 8-5.

 

When the Ironmen took on the Flyers in Goderich on Saturday, it was the Flyers that would score the first two goals, followed by eight unanswered Ironmen goals to seal the win for Wingham.

 

Jeff Fritzley opened the scoring for the Flyers at 1:30 of the first period with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Owen Shore and Iain MacIsaac, followed by MacIsaac scoring his 10th goal of the season at 4:49 of the period, assisted by Shore and Logan Ferreira.

 

After that, it was all Wingham.

 

Noah Wettlaufer scored his sixth goal of the season at 11:51 of the first period, assisted by Micah Kraayenbrink and Dawson Fahrer. 

 

Noah Bloemberg then followed with his 14th and 15th goals of the season. His first goal of the game was unassisted, scored at 13:45 of the first period, followed by another at 17:48 of the period, assisted by Dawson Fahrer and Kyle Stanbury.

 

In the second period, Tayt Bramhill scored his ninth goal of the season at 10:20, assisted by Coleson Fischer, followed by Kyle Stanbury scoring his 26th goal of the season, assisted by Austin Becker and Dawson Fahrer on the power play.

 

Noah Wettlaufer scored his second goal of the game, his seventh of the season, at 17:22 of the period, assisted by Josh Dales, followed by Kyle Stanbury scoring his 27th goal of the season just as the second period expired. Nate Bloemberg and Tayt Bramhill assisted on the marker.

 

At 17:28 of the third period, Kyle Stanbury completed his hat trick with his 28th goal of the season, assisted by Tayt Bramhill and Noah Bloemberg.

 

Evan Knight earned the win for the Ironmen in the Wingham net, stopping 18 of the 20 shots he faced, while Liam McCarthy was in net for the Flyers, suffering the loss and stopping 50 of the 58 shots he faced.

 

Goderich’s Wilder Hoggarth was called for the first penalty of the game when he was cited for hooking at 8:52 of the first period.

 

Wingham’s Noah Bloemberg was called for unsportsmanlike conduct as the first period expired, which is also when Wingham’s Turner Mckenzie and Goderich’s Cameron McCarthy were both called for roughing after the whistle.
Noah Wettlaufer was called for tripping at 10:47 of the second period, followed by a roughing penalty called against Goderich’s Carson Stutzman at 11:40 of the period.

 

In the third period, Goderich’s Tayden Hannivan was called for roughing at 4:53 of the period, followed by a four-minute major head contact penalty called against Goderich’s Cameron McCarthy at 7:25 of the period, which also saw him ejected from the game.

 

On Friday night in Walkerton, the Ironmen beat the Capitals by a score of 8-5, despite the Capitals scoring the first three goals of the game.

 

Capital Keegan Fischer opened the scoring with his fifth goal of the season, scored at 4:09 of the period, assisted by Sam Shakes and Kyle Durrer.

 

Walkerton’s Eliott McCarey followed with his ninth and 10th goals of the season, both assisted by Clayton Fitzsimmons, at 5:52 and 6:02 of the first period, respectively.

 

Wingham got on the scoreboard at 16:54 of the first period when Jonah Burley scored his eighth goal of the season, assisted by Noah Wettlaufer and Micah Kraayenbrink.

 

The Ironmen would then score six goals in the second period, compared to just one by the Capitals, to take the lead and never look back.

 

Dawson Fahrer of the Ironmen scored his fourth goal of the season just 57 seconds into the second period, assisted by Coleson Fischer, followed by Nolan Janes scoring his first goal of the season. Chase Lorenz and Coleson Fischer assisted on the goal.

 

Wingham’s Austin Becker then scored his 10th goal of the season at the seven-minute mark of the period, assisted by Coleson Fischer and Kyle Stanbury on the power play.

 

Less than a minute later, at 7:51 of the period, Kyle Stanbury scored his 23rd goal of the season, unassisted.

 

J.J. Lavigne of the Capitals then scored his sixth goal of the season at 8:04 of the period, assisted by Keegan Fischer and Sam Shakes, followed by Wingham’s Austin Becker scoring his 11th goal of the season at 11:51 of the period, assisted by Dawson Fahrer, and Kyle Stanbury’s 24th goal of the season, and his second of the game, at 17:37 of the second period. Nate Bloemberg and Noah Bloemberg were awarded assists on the play.

 

Stanbury would earn his hat trick - the first of two in as many days - with his 25th goal of the season at 5:22 of the third period, assisted by Brandon Bishop.

 

Ethan Kerr would score for the Capitals at 7:52 of the third period, assisted by Owen Tichbourne and Aiden Mead, but it was too little, too late for Walkerton.

 

Garrett Golley played all 60 minutes of the game in the Wingham Ironmen net, stopping 37 of the 42 shots he faced. Logan Bromley began the game in the Capitals’ net, stopping five of the first 10 shots he faced. He was then replaced by Matt Vahramain, who earned the loss for his team, stopping six of the eight shots he faced. Bromley, however, returned to the net for the third period and stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced in his second stint in net that game.

 

There were no penalties called in the first period, so Walkerton’s Kyle Durrer had the first penalty of the game when he was called for tripping at 6:35 of the second period.

 

Wingham’s Austin Becker was then called for interference at 9:56 of the second period, followed by another interference call against Wingham’s Nigel Kreager at 14:26 of the period.

 

Kreager was then assessed a four-minute major tripping penalty at 4:06 of the third period alongside two penalties called against Walkerton’s Caleb Morrison for slashing and cross checking.

 

Wingham’s Micah Kraayenbrink was assessed the final penalty of the night when he was called for interference at 17:49 of the third period.

 

The Ironmen have one game left on the regular season schedule: a March 4 contest with the Goderich Flyers in Goderich.
The Mount Forest Patriots remain in first place in the North Pollock Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League with 61 points and a record of 30-9-0-1. The Hanover Barons are in second place with a record of 26-9-2-2 and 56, followed by the Mitchell Hawks in third place and the Wingham Ironmen in fourth place, both of whom sit at 53 points. The Hawks have a record of 24-11-3-2, while the Ironmen have a record of 25-13-2-1.

 

The Kincardine Bulldogs sit in fifth place with 40 points and a record of 17-17-5-1, followed by the sixth-place Walkerton Capitals with a record of 7-30-1-1 and the last-place Goderich Flyers with 14 points and a record of 6-31-2-0.