The Evoke Marketing Tier I Warriors turned in a gritty performance February 2 versus the Sarnia Jr Sting to earn a badly needed point in the battle for playoff positions.
Jason Adair opened the scoring with an unassisted wraparound in the first. Sarnia found a way to sneak one past Mac Munro to tie it up before the end of the period. Munro made some good saves as the teams exchanged chances.
In the second, Luke Hishon scored his first on the setup by Colton Campbell. Munro turned aside several shots in the second unfortunately Sarnia added a couple to take a 3-2 lead after two.
Malaika Kibedi came in for the third period and was tested early. The team defense of Ryan Watling, Liam Micks, Cohen Bowles, Nick McGill, Nate Meadows and Ryder Duchesne worked hard to limit chances and it gave the offense a boost. Hishon converted a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play from Campbell and Hurley to tie it at three. The Sting found the top shelf midway through the third to take the 4-3 lead and then Hurley and Adair helped Hishon work a little more magic to tie it with 2:25 to play. They continued to exchange chances and then Ethan Bridges found Campbell in the slot, his shot was stopped but Owen Martin jammed the rebound in with 1:54 remaining for a 5-4 lead. Unfortunately the Warriors couldn't hold on as Sarnia found the top shelf with just over a minute left to knot it at five.
On February 3, the Warriors hosted the West London Hawks. After falling behind 2-0 after the first, the Warriors shored up the defense and battled back in the second to tie it up. Hurley's shot was stopped but Adair banged the rebound home and then after Kibedi came up with a couple big saves Nate Meadows kept it in at the point, banked the puck off the end boards which fed Ethan Schmidt, who made no mistake.
Unfortunately the Hawks were able to take advantage of a power play midway through the third and then added another less than a minute later on a breakaway. Meadows and Hurley picked up assists on Cohen Bowles tally from the high slot with 5:14 to go but that's as close as the Warriors could get as the Hawks added two late to win 6-3.
The Warriors are in a tough battle for the fourth and final playdown spot and will be looking to get on track February 9 when they face the North London Nationals.