Photo by Richard Zazulak
Orillia Sunrise Toyota Tundras netminder Dan Earles tries desperately to prevent Cam Watson from scoring the final goal of game for the Dundas Real McCoys at 16:21 of the third period.
By Larry Robertson, Special to The News
Four unanswered third-period goals carried the Dundas Real McCoys from a 4-3 deficit to a 7-4 victory over the Orillia Sunrise Toyota Tundras in Allan Cup Hockey action last Friday at J.L. Grightmire Arena.
The victory came on the heels of the McCoys 8-5 loss to the Whitby Dunlops last Wednesday.
General manager Don Robertson said the team played well in Whitby, except for about 11 minutes when the opponents scored at will.
“We have to be better the next time that we play them, and it’s clear we have to play a full 60 minutes,” said Robertson.
“Orillia is a much better hockey club now than they were three weeks ago. Once we got our legs in the second period, we played our game. We moved the puck well, worked hard, and played with confidence, which is the way we want to carry ourselves as we gear up for the playoffs,” Robertson added.
Friday night, Jan. 18, the McCoys will take on the league-leading Brantford Blast in the Brantford Civic Centre at 7:30 p.m., before returning home to play the Blast again on Friday, Jan. 25. Game time is 7:45 p.m.
The Orillia win gave the third-place McCoys their 10th win of the season against eight losses.
“After the Ontario Hockey Association cut down date on Jan. 10, we have five player cards open,” said Robertson. “One card has to be for a goalkeeper. We may re-sign some of the players that we left off the list. Even if we do that, we will still have some room to add some needed depth to our defence.
“Second place is our goal, in order to get home-ice advantage in the playoffs. If we work hard that is attainable, however we must beat Brantford to get there.”
Dundas fell behind 2-0 on a pair of goals by Travis Fuller in the first 10 minutes of the Tundras game. Mike Berry put the McCoys on the board with a power-play goal. Orillia replied, only to have Scott Mifsud pull Dundas within a goal.
Nick Smith added a goal in the second before Dundas blew the doors off in the third with goals by Mike Amodeo, Justin Davis, Darryl Smith and Cam Watson.
