Photo: (Todd Winder tips a shot for a 1-0 lead)

Uxbridge Defeated the Little Britain Merchants 4-1 tonight to take a 3-0 lead in their Central Ontario Semi-Finals. The Bruins Todd Winder started the scoring for the Bruins and ended the scoring as well, with Jarett Smith sandwiching in two goals in between. Brandon Francey stood tall in the Bruins net stopping 27 of 28 shots as the Bruins fired 33 at the Little Britain net. Game 4 is Wed. Feb.25th in Little Britain at 8 pm with game 5 Fri. Feb.27th at the Bear Den if Necessary.

Photo: (Courtesy John Yates) Dylan Locke scores an EN goal with 1 sec left.

The Uxbridge Bruins never trailed in this one as they would have leads of 1-0 and 2-1 only to have the Merchants tie it up both times. On their first goal Conner Evans point shot handcuffed Little Britain’s goalie and fell off his glove behind him were an opportunistic Korey Brand reached around to tap it into the net. Adam Bartholomew setup Evans with a cross ice pass at the blue-line. After the Merchants tied it to end the first at 1-1, Bruins goalie Brandon Francey sent Tyson Eastgate on an end to end rush where again the puck went in off of the goalies glove to regain the lead. A redirection shot by the Merchants tied the game at 2-2. Todd Winder had the same idea in mind as he just got a piece of another Evans point shot coming 19 secs later. It was third time lucky for Evans when his  next point shot clearly beat Garrett Haden for a 4-2 lead. Jarett Smith and Marco Mastrangelo assisted on his goal. With under 5 minutes left in the game the Merchants were knocking on the door and made for a close finish, scoring their third goal of the game. However with a faceoff in their zone and their goalie on the bench for a sixth attacker, Dylan Locke won the faceoff and fired the puck directly into the open net at the 19:59 mark to make it a 5-3 final. Game 3 is this Tuesday Feb24th at 7:45pm in the Bear Den! Game four is Wed. Feb.25th at 8:00pm in Little Britain.

In the other series Clarington leads Lakefield 3-0 with a 3-2 OT win last night.

Photo Top: (Brandon Francey makes a breakaway save)

Photo Bottom: (Todd Winder Bulges the twine for the Bruins first goal)

The Bruins started off slowly in this game spotting the Merchants a 2-0 lead after one period of play but found their stride in the second firing 29 shots at the Little Britain Goaltender. Todd Winder pounced on a rebound off of a Daryl Thomson blast to get them going and shortly after that, Shane Smith redirected Michael Spataro’s point shot for a 2-2 tie. The play was put in motion by Captain Carter Vahey as he controlled the play finding his defensive partner who fired it through to the net. After a momentary blip that allowed Little Britain to open up a 4-2 lead Uxbridge fought back again as Alex Siblock put the puck in the net after Thomas Sheedy fired a shot from the point. Then it was another redirection by Shane Smith on Daryl Thomson’s blast and the Bruins were in a tie game once again. The third period was all Bruins as Brandon Francey shut the door including a breakaway save and Marco Mastrangelo undressed the Merchants tender for the game winning goal. Assists went to Tyson Eastgate and Mastrangelo then returned the favour sending him down the left side and he let go a rocket off of the post into the net, beating the Merchants goalie over his shoulder for the 6-4 lead. Daryl Thomson at the edge of the net put in Thomas Sheedy’s point shot with Shane Smith assisting for a 7-4 final. Game two is Sat Feb.21st in Little Britain at 7:30pm and then Game 3 will be in Uxbridge Tues. Feb.24th at 7:45pm.

Uxbridge fell behind 1-0 and then scored 6 straight for their 30th win of the season in Port Perry. Jake Jooston picked up his 10th win of the season and shares the team lowest goals against with Brandon Francey. Jarret Smith with 2 goals as well as Korey Brand, Ryan  Miehm, Alex Williamson and Patrick Bolahood scored the Bruins goals.

Photos: Top (Courtesy Matt Barrett) Bottom: (Courtesy John Cavers)

On goals by Korey Brand, Todd Winder, Tyson Eastgate and Daryl Thomson with two including the game winner, the Bruins defeated Little Britain 5-4 and finish 1st in the Central. They play Sunday Feb.8th in Port Perry and then await the winner of the Mojacks/ Merchants series. Playoff games will be posted when known!

Photo: (The Bruins players celebrate Todd Winders goal)

The Clarington Eagles ended the Bruins winning streak at 9 tonight as the Bruins recorded their 9th regulation loss of the season. Ryan Miehm tied the game at one a piece in the second but the Eagles came back with two of their own for a 3-1 lead. Todd Winder got one back but it was all Eagles after that as they led 4-2 going into the 3rd, They would add two more in the final frame for a 6-2 win over Uxbridge. The Bruins still need a point in one of their remaining  2 games to clinch first. The Bruins host Little Britain Fri. Feb.6th at the Bear Den before closing out the regular season Sun. Feb.8th in Port Perry.

Photo: (Aiden Reilly scores the Bruins 4th goal)

On the Strength of Jake Joosten’s shutout and 2 goal performances by Marco Mastrangelo and Todd Winder, the Bruins skated to a 6-0 win over the Ice at Keswick Sunday afternoon. Aiden Reilly and Ryan Miehm also picked up goals helping the Bruins to increase their lead over Lakefield to 4 points with Uxbridge having 3 games left and the Chiefs 2. Joosten has a sparkling 1.77 GAA in 11 games including 2 shutouts as backup to Brandon Francey. Uxbridge is in Clarington to face the Eagles who swept Port Perry on the weekend and sit 1 point back of Lakefield in third place. Then on Fri Feb.6th Uxbridge host the Little Britain Merchants in their final regular season home game before the playoffs.