Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
After opening the 2023 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) ‘AA’ Hockey Championships in St Catharines, Ontario with a 3 – 1 win over the the 14th ranked Holy Trinity Titans on Tuesday, March 21st in an 8:00 a.m puck drop, the number one ranked St Mary’s Knights of Sault Ste Marie hit the ice for a 12:00 p.m start against the 12th ranked Georgian Bay Bears.
With 33 seconds remaining in the middle stanza, Nathan Palmer sends the Knights into the intermission leading 1 – 0 with a St Mary’s goal with picking up a Lucas Green rebound to the left of Georgian Bay’s left post find the back of Bear goaltender Marshall Perkin net. Daniel Guzzo added the other assist on Palmer’s goal. At 7:32 of the period from between the faceoff circle, Carter Lidstone gives the Knights a 2 – 0 lead with Nik Vecchio drawing the lone helper on Lidstone’s goal. At 6:12 of the third, Carmine Perna finds the back of Perkin’s net with a snapshot to bring St Mary’s lead to 3 – 0. Gabe Zimbaro registered the contributor on Perna’s goal. With 5:38 remaining in the game, Georgian Bay’s Alex Saran finds the back of Knight netminder Jaxon Alexander with a slapshot from the left blueline to close the gap to two. Cole Warren added the contributor on the Bears lone goal of the contest.
St Mary’s coach Frank Medaglia told Saultsports that “We played pretty well defensively, limiting their offensive scoring chances and when they did have an opportunity, Jaxon was there as usual with some huge saves. We didn’t have a lot of jam in the second game but we did enough to put ourselves in a position to “win a period and win the game”. Tomorrow morning’s game versus Paris (also 2-0) will be to try to come out of our bracket as the number one team heading to the quarterfinals. We’re going to have to find another gear to continue to be successful.”
The Knights will now take their 2 – 0 record into game three of the OFSAA championships at 8:00 a.m on Wednesday, March 22nd against the seventh ranked Paris District High School Panthers.
Watch the Knights LIVE HERE.
