Ironmen lose first three games of playoff series with Kincardine
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
It was a rough weekend for the Wingham Ironmen, who lost all three of their first-round playoff games with the Kincardine Bulldogs and stood on the precipice of elimination on Wednesday, when the teams met for the fourth and potentially final time in this series, unfortunately happening after press time.
The series began on Friday night in Kincardine, where the Bulldogs beat the Ironmen by a score of 4-3.
The eventual winners opened the scoring when Callum Snedden, just short of 10 minutes into the first period, found the back of the net, assisted by Keaton Vanderhoek and Bryce Martin.
However, the Ironmen would equalize and then pull ahead before the first period let out. Dawson Dietz scored, assisted by Tanner Dietz, at 11:55 of the period, followed by a Brandon Bishop goal at 16:27 of the first, assisted by Seth Doney and Nigel Kreager.
The Ironmen extended their lead to 3-1 at 1:51 of the second period when Brett McCutcheon scored, assisted by Adam MacRobbie and Noah Wettlaufer. After that, however, the Bulldogs would score three unanswered goals to win the game. Callum Snedden scored his second goal of the game at 12:08 of the second, assisted by James Hendry and Kyle Dolmage, followed by Aidan Yarde scoring fewer than 30 seconds later, assisted by Caeleb Bowler and Trent Houghton, to tie it up.
Houghton scored the winning goal at 1:47 of the third period, assisted by Caeleb Bowler and Kyle Dolmage, and that goal would stand when the final horn sounded.
James Hopper lost the game for the Ironmen in net, stopping 26 of 30 shots, while Sebastian Moncada earned the win for the Bulldogs, stopping 22 of the 25 shots he faced.
The Ironmen were penalized eight times in the game for a total of 32 minutes in the box, while the Bulldogs were called six times for a total of just 12 minutes.
On Saturday night, the Ironmen hosted the Bulldogs for game two of the series, but it was the Bulldogs who won the game by a score of 4-1.
Chad Lawrence opened the scoring for Kincardine, potting the only goal of the first period at 9:27, assisted by Caeleb Bowler and Trent Houghton.
The Ironmen tied the game at 8:35 of the second period when Seth Doney scored on the power play, assisted by Tanner Dietz and Jesse Coombs, but after that it was all Kincardine. Madden Steen scored at 11:06 of the second, assisted by Jordan Moulton on the power play, and then Cooper Schneider scored an unassisted goal at 16:24. Caeleb Bowler left no doubt when he scored a power play goal at 18:40 of the third period, assisted by Chad Lawrence.
Sebastian Moncada earned the win in the Kincardine net by stopping 21 of 22 shots, while James Hopper lost in the Wingham net, stopping 27 of 31 shots. The Bulldogs were whistled seven times for a total of 20 minutes in the penalty box, while the Ironmen were called six times for a total of 15 minutes.
On Sunday, the teams returned to Kincardine, where the Bulldogs handily defeated the Ironmen once again - this time by a score of 6-4.
The teams exchanged goals in the first period, beginning with Kincardine’s Jordan Moulton at 4:28 on the power play, assisted by James Hendry and Bryce Martin, followed by Wingham’s Austin Becker just 22 seconds later, assisted by Jesse Coombs and Brandon Bishop. Kincardine edged out again with a Callum Snedden goal at 6:17, assisted by James Hendry and Bryce Martin, but Wingham equalized once again at 19:48 with a Tanner Dietz goal, assisted by Tate Bramhill and Tate Berfelz.
As the second period began, Jesse Coombs put the Ironmen on top with a power play goal at 6:01, assisted by Tate Berfelz. However, not just three straight Kincardine goals, but three straight Carter Servais goals - a pure hat trick in under three minutes - put the game out of reach from the Ironmen. Servais scored at 7:35 unassisted, at 8:33 on the power play, assisted by Caeleb Bowler and Madden Steen, and 10:23, assisted by Trent Houghton and Madden Steen.
Seth Doney scored an unassisted goal at 18:09 of the second to keep it close for the Ironmen, but Kincardine’s Trent Houghton put the game out of reach with an empty-net goal at 19:57 of the third period, assisted by Carter Servais.
Carter Garvie was in net for the Ironmen loss, stopping 36 of 41 shots, while Rowen Cherrett won the game for the Bulldogs, stopping 32 of 36 shots. Both teams spent a significant amount of time in the penalty box. The Ironmen were called 10 times for 28 minutes in the box, while the Bulldogs were called 12 times for 32 minutes.
As mentioned, game four was scheduled to go ahead in Wingham on Wednesday, Feb. 26 in Wingham. Results for that potential series-ending game were not available at press time.
The fifth game of the series, if necessary, will be played in Kincardine tonight, Friday, Feb. 28. The series would then continue on Saturday, March 1 in Wingham with game six and game seven would be in Kincardine on Sunday, March 2.