BRANTFORD, ON- The Brantford 99ers played host to the Milton Menace on Thursday for their 2nd game in 2 nights. Zack Burleigh got the start in goal for Brantford, and Glen Crandall was the starter for Milton.
The first half of the opening 20 started off pretty even, with chances going both ways. The 99ers then ran into some penalty trouble and the Menace started to gain momentum. Late in the period, Alexander Siletsky scored the games opening goal, after an unlucky puck bounce for Brantford landed net front on the stick of Siletsky who out-waited Burleigh and snapped it blocker side for his 4th of the season. That would stand as the only goal of the opening period.
Halfway through the second period, Spencer Borg stole the puck in the defensive zone and raced up the ice for a 2-on-1 with Evin Kojokaro. Borg sent a pass right on to Kojokaro’s stick who slapped it into the net for his 7th of the season, tying the game at 1 and increasing his point streak to 4 games. Just a few minutes later, the 99ers began running into some penalty trouble. It started with a 2 minute tripping minor which the Brantford PK was able to successfully kill off. Just seconds after the penalty expired, another one was called sending the tired 99ers back to the PK. Milton was successful this time around, as Alessandro Petreccia was able to fish the puck out of a mad scramble in front of the net and fire it above Burleigh to regain his teams lead. It was then Brantford with the next power play opportunity shortly after to try and tie up the game, however Milton’s Nicholas Wereha raced past the 99ers defence on a short-handed breakaway and made no mistake, increasing the Menace lead to 3-1.
Brantford’s power play got 2 more opportunities in the final period however, they weren’t able to beat Crandall again. The Menace added an empty net goal and sealed the game by a score of 4-1.
The Brantford 99ers are back in action next Thursday night at home, hosting the Wellington Dukes. The puck drops at 7:30pm.
