The Burlington Cougars collected their second win of the season Friday night as they travelled to Trenton to duel the Golden Hawks and emerged with a 3-1 victory.

Starting in goal for Burlington was Guelph native Matthew Dunsmoor, fresh off of a stint with the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League. He returns to the Cougars after starting three games for the team in 2017-18. The 17-year-old spent most of last season with the Guelph Jr. Griffins Midget AAA where he posted a 2.42 GAA and a .903 save percentage in 38 starts.

He held the Golden Hawks to just one goal in his debut, turning aside 32 of 33 shots. His performance earned him first-star honours and high praise from his head coach.

“He played really well. He handled the puck well and made some key saves for us. He was big for us tonight, very big,” Cougars head coach Mark Jooris said. “Everyone knows how important goaltending is and he stepped in and played very well. He was a very calming influence to our guys tonight.”

The Cougars had the lone tally in the first period on a goal from Jack Harper, just under twelve minutes into the period. The two teams would trade powerplay goals in the second as Jacob Buch was able to convert on the Trenton infraction and put the Cougars ahead by one. They would take that lead into the final frame.

The Golden Hawks controlled the pace for most of the third period, outshooting the Cougars 13-6. Dunsmoor, with the help of the efficient Burlington penalty kill, would shut the door on two early Trenton powerplays to keep themselves ahead. The momentum would quickly shift in the Cougars’ favour.

“We competed really hard. They came out really hard, but we weathered the storm early.” Jooris explained.

The Golden Hawks, still searching for the game-tying goal, would begin a march to the penalty box. This was started off on a spearing call that saw Matthew Hobbs tally the eventual game winner, his fourth goal and sixth point of the season.

“The spearing call helped us late there. That was a big one. It was kind of a back breaker for them,” Jooris said.

Both teams combined for 72 penalty minutes in this spirited affair that saw sixteen powerplay opportunities, nine for Burlington, seven for Trenton.

“It was a physical game, it’s a small barn in there so you have be prepared for a physical battle,” said Jooris, who was happy to see his team not shy away during a physical match-up. “We got a beautiful goal and shut them down and just capitalized on some opportunities.”

Now 2-3-0-0, the Cougars don’t hit the ice again until Monday, September 24 when they face off against the defending Buckland Cup champion Wellington Dukes.

- Written by Chris Perrelli