Oakville vs. Welland (1/10)

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Oakville Rangers vs. Welland Front Row Sports Tigers (Major Midget AAA)

The Oakville Rangers were helped along in their 7-1 victory on Thursday evening by a uncharacteristically lacklustre performance from the entire squad of Welland Front Row Sports Tigers, who seemed unable to slow down, much less stop the relentless attack of the visitors.  Penalty troubles added to the problems of the evening, as Welland surrendered three power-play goals on seven chances, while going scoreless themselves in six man-advantage opportunities.  #14 Mike Mirabelli had a productive evening for the Rangers scoring one and assisting on three others while #7 Scott Benzori also netted two goals and an assist in the winning effort. #18 Michael Baird also recorded a multi-point evening with a goal and an assist for Oakville. #12 Ryan Wallik and #15 Jonathan Brand each added their names to the gamesheet with single tallies while #11 David Provost, #16 Matthew Feril and #17 Peter Ranieri provided single assists.  The last two Oakville goals were not announced over the public-address system, so official scoring information for those two plays could not be obtained, however, #14 Mirabelli clearly scored the sixth Oakville goal on a clean look from several feet inside the blueline.  The seventh Oakville goal occurred as the Rangers enjoyed the power-play at 15:31 of the third period, it was not clear to me from my position who should be credited with the goal or assists.  What is clear is that the better team this evening prevailed. Whether or not they deserved to do so as handily as they did is open for debate.

Down 5-0 at the time, Welland’s lone goal came at 13:36 of the second period from #72 Cory Raby, assisted by #77 Brandon Daniel and #88 Matt Goch. This broke up the shutout bid of Oakville netminder #8 Tyler Lawson but did little in the way of sparking the team towards a comeback.  The Tigers continued to be frustrated during the third period and, as a result, started to take on more undisciplined penalties, seemingly trying to fight their way onto the scoreboard.

Following a 7-3 loss in Grey-Bruce this past weekend, the Tigers find themselves with a 5-15-2 season record as they head into Guelph on Saturday evening to face the Jr. Storm Cooperators.  Happy Birthday to Head Coach Eric Deegan who celebrated his birthday on Thursday evening.

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Filed under 2007-08 Front Row Sports Excellence Midget AAA Tigers, Sports Writing/Commentary

Tags: 2007-08 Front Row Sports Midget AAA Tigers, Oakville Rangers, Sports Writing/Commentary