The Burlington Cougars hosted the Toronto Patriots on Friday night at Appleby Ice Centre. The home team dawned their purple uniforms in support of the Halton Women’s Place, and the fight against abuse of women and children.

The Cougars came into Friday’s action winning their previous four games, a stretch that saw them tally 22 goals. Despite a hot start, Burlington was unable to match that same effort, and dropped the game 4-2.

The first period began slowly with both teams trading scarce chances until late in the period. Evan Benwell, who came over from the Patriots via trade, opened the scoring with less than three minutes to play in the period.

Benwell was left alone in front of the Patriots’ goal, and buried a pass from Jack harper. He would add a second goal in the middle frame to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead. Benwell’s pair of tallies now give him 11 points in as many games since joining the team in mid-October.

Dunsmoor, who stopped 43 of 47 shots, was once again stellar between the pipes. Unfortunately, his team could not give him the support he needed in the third period.

“I didn’t think we played very well the whole game,” head coach Mark Jooris said. “Dunsmoor kept us in there and we got the two goals, but we did not have the effort. And our compete level was not where it was during our four-game streak.”

The Patriots managed to hem Burlington in their own end in the final frame, mustering 20 shots on goal in the process. They would draw blood early in the period, and tie it up with just under ten minutes to play. The dagger, however, came from former Cougar Zach Lawrence six seconds later. Burlington would not recover, with Toronto adding one more for good measure.

It was a bleak outcome for a team that has certainly turned a corner since September, and was looking to win their fifth consecutive game. Jooris felt the team got away from what made them successful during their recent win streak.

“We were playing way simpler. Tonight you saw guys trying to deke guys in our zone. We haven’t been doing that during our stretch here,” Jooris said. “Tonight we all wanted to hang on to it, and we were slow to react. It’s not the way we need to play.”

One positive from the evening was the Cougars’ penalty-kill. They held the Patriots off the score sheet in five attempts. Their PK unit has been hot as of late, and has catapulted to 12th in the OJHL, clicking at 83.5%.

Following the loss, the Cougars sit fourth in the division, two points back of Brampton. Burlington will now enjoy a week off, and will look to get back in the win column on Friday night as they host the West Division-leading Oakville Blades. Puck-drop is set for 7:30 pm.

- Written by Chris Perrelli