The
Walkerton Royal Canadian Legion Branch 102 peewee LL boys finished the regular
season schedule over the weekend with a record of 7-10-1. The local Capitals
recorded a win and a loss to round out the season before heading into the
playoffs.
Playing Sunday in Tiveton, the visiting Walkerton team bested the Kincardine Kinucks #2 (3-14-1) with an 8-2 final. Following a scoreless first period, Tyler Wallace got a breakaway early in second but was stopped by the Kincardine goalie. Kyle Rhompf buried the rebound, with assists going to Wallace and Capitals’ goalie Lucas Rowe, putting Walkerton ahead 1-0.
The Kinucks rallied and scored back-to-back markers in the second before Justin Bell flipped one in from his knees to tie it up. The assist went to Cole Cassidy.
In the third, the Capitals pulled ahead with four goals in two minutes and never looked back. Cassidy, Wallace, Rhompf and Liam Osborne all scored for Walkerton, with assists by Xander Thornton, Logan Morrison, Rhompf, Wallace, Alex Brandt and Tayt Weber. Kincardine had some good chances on the powerplay midway through the period but with just over three minutes left, a slap shot from Luke Schmidt hit the back of the net to make it 7-2. A late breakaway by Kody Brown at 1:18 gave the Capitals goal number eight. Both were unassisted.
In action Saturday, the Walkerton peewees fell 9-3 to the visiting Shallow Lake Lakers (13-4-1).
Shallow Lake scored twice early in the first but Morrison got one back for the Capitals, assisted by Cobi Johnson and Schmidt, to make it a 2-1 game.
Dylan Reay tied it up with two minutes left in the opening period on a pass from Brayden Grife and Schmidt, but that was as close as Walkerton would get. Shallow Lake added two quick goals in the final minute of the period to regain a 4-2 advantage.
The Lakers extended the lead to 6-2 with two goals in the second period. The Capitals started the third on a high note when Brown scored 45 seconds in, assisted by Bell and Rowe, but Shallow scored three unanswered goals before the final buzzer to take the 9-3 win.
Walkerton, with a ninth-place finish in the 15-team north loop, now awaits its WOAA playoff schedule.