Written By: Georgina Georgiou         Photo by: Andy Corneau - OJHL Images

The Markham Royals capped off 2 weekend games 1-1, still remaining in the top spot of the Northern Division. On Friday night, the boys took on the visiting Newmarket Hurricanes for a close, action packed game. It was a scoreless affair all the way to the third period, when Newmarket opened and closed the scoring to steal a 1-0 final over the Royals. The win was Newmarket's second straight shutout victory while the Royals were able to hang onto their top seed in the Division despite the outcome.

Back in action on Sunday afternoon, the boys were home once again this time taking on the Pickering Panthers. In the first period, the Royals opened up the scoring with Zac Sirota’s 11th goal of the season. Right after the Panthers tied up the game at 1-1, Alessio Luciani scored his 26th of the season putting the Royals up by one going into the 2nd period! After the Royals received a power play halfway through the 2nd, Luca Esposito jammed the puck into the back of the net, giving the Royals a 3-1 lead. As the 3rd period was underway, the Panthers made it a one goal game, however, not long after Matthew Hubbarde scored after a pretty passing play set him up nicely to put the boys up 4-2 with just under halfway to go in the 3rd Period. With the Panthers pressing hard and pulling within a goal late, the Royals managed to battle hard and defend the Panthers attack, holding on for the 4-3 victory! The win means the Royals stay leading the North Division with a record of 22-15-2-4, and are now 6-2-0-0 in January.