(Centre, from left) Ian Harrison tipped home Cole Lavender’s point shot in overtime to lift the Picton Pirates to a 4-3 win at home Thursday night. (Jason Parks/Gazette Staff)
The action on the ice inside the Huff Estates Arena Thursday night was as wild and woolly as the winter weather outside.
Thankfully for the Picton Pirates (16-21-2), the extremes added up to an overtime win against the Amherstview Jets.
Tied at three and off to a power play during the extra session, Ian Harrison and Gerrit Kempers teamed up to take possession of a loose puck in the corner to Amherstview starter Samuel Closs’s right. Mr. Harrison spotted Cole Lavender lurking along the blue line at 12:28. Both he and Mr. Kempers went to the Jets goal crease to start the scrum.
Mr. Lavender, who had factored in on two of Picton’s three tallies, loaded up and sent a canonading blast towards the net.
With a deft tip by Mr. Harrison a couple of feet in front of the Amherstview goalie, the biscuit disappeared into the horde of hydrophobic synthetic leather and nylon sported by Mr. Closs. The puck then slowly emerged, careening towards the goal line.
A breathless gaggle of fans watched as the puck slowly crept to the line. Amherstview defender Payton Clarke reached down and attempted to fish the the black beauty off the line but it was too late. The game was over.
Picton opened the scoring in the first and took a 1-0 lead thanks to quick work on an offensive zone faceoff.
With the Pirates up a man, Cole Stevenson won the draw and slipped the puck to Nick Kirby, who had Mr. Closs moving right to left. The Consecon native slipped the puck in the short side with just over two and half minutes left.
In the second stanza, a bad line change allowed for Colby Cross to break in alone on Picton starter Ethan Schwarz and score an equalizer at the 3:35 mark.
But Picton got back to work on the power play at the midway point of the frame. Just after an Amherstview minor had been extinguished, sustained pressure allowed Cole Lavender to rip a slap shot past Mr. Closs at 10:24.
The Tod Division’s most heavily penalized team beat a path to the sin bin a second time and it was Mr. Lavender’s point shot being tipped by Mr. Kempers in the high slot at 12:28.
In the third, the Jets struck back with a pair of goals in the first half. Wyatt Gregory beat Mr. Schwarz from the slot at 4:11 and then Carter McKee converted a tap in at the 8:36 mark, setting the stage for overtime.
Mr. Schwarz had 41 stops for his ninth win of the season.
The following night, it was Mr. Schwarz’s goaltending partner Nic McGrayne’s turn to shine in Napanee as the Pirates paid their final regular season visit to the Strathcona Paper Centre.
The Demorestville native was sensational, making 56 saves in a 3-3 draw.
The Priates did very well to deny the Raiders two points out of the contest and may have given the Napanee contingent extra motivation to leap frog Port Hope and avoid Picton in the first round of the 2024 Schmalz Cup playoffs.
Down 2-0 into the last half of the second period, Napanee native and Picton rookie Luc Amat fired home his 11th of the year shorthanded at 12:36 to get the Pirates on the board. Mr Harrison picked up an assist on the play.
With less than two minutes left in the stanza, Picton drew even as Mr. Kempers potted his 12th of the season.
Late in the third, the Raiders would again pull ahead on a Christos Chronis goal at 14:55.
But the Pirates would come back to tie it at 18:39 as Mr. Harrison redirected a pass from Mr. Amat at the 18:39 mark.
The Pirates host Port Hope on Thursday for their final home game of the regular season and then wind up the 2023-24 PJHL campaign in Campbellford on Saturday.
Editor’s note: The above version of this story from the Feb. 21, 2024 edition of the Picton Gazette has been modified to include results.
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