The magic number in Allan Cup Hockey play last weekend was lucky number “7” as all 4 games were won by the team to score 7 goals. The Stoney Creek Generals have increased their lead on top of the ACH standings after winning twice on the weekend while the second place Whitby Dunlops won their only game to keep the Generals within reach. Behind them, the Thorold Athletics split a pair of games as they try to catch the third place Brantford Blast who lost to the A’s on Friday night. The Dundas Real McCoys and Hamilton Steelhawks both went 0-1 and are stuck at the bottom of the standings.

Fri. Jan 13: Brantford 2 at Thorold 7
The Thorold Athletics entered the weekend 4 points behind the Brantford Blast for third in the ACH and a big 7-2 win on home ice against the Blast has pulled them within a single point. The Athletics jumped out to an early lead as Kenneth Bradford scored just 40 seconds into the game and Steven Dol added another less than 3 minutes later to put the Athletics up 2-0. Joel Prpic repied for the Blast a little over 60 seconds later as the Blast trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes.

The rest of the scoring in the game took place in the second period as the third was scoreless. The Athletics again scored twice, getting goals from Tyler Turcotte and Brandon O’Quinn before Jacob Ledyard replied for the Blast to make it a 4-2 hockey game 7 minutes into the second period. That was the last time the Blast would find the back of the net on the night and the Athletics added 3 as Bradford scored his second of the game followed by markers from Chris Risi and Brad Jackson to make the final 7-2 for the Athletics.

Colin Dunne earned the win for the Athletics after stopping 30 shots, while Anthony Marshall took the loss for the Blast after making 28 saves on 35 shots. Chris Risi added two assists to go along with his goal to lead the way for the Athletics with 3 points, while Brantford’s Mark Taylor led the Blast with 2 assists.

Boxscore
 

Fri. Jan 13: Stoney Creek 7 at Dundas 2
The first place Stoney Creek Generals entered the weekend 3 points up on second place Whitby and increased their lead with a 7-2 victory in Dundas on Friday night against the struggling Real McCoys. The Generals scored the first two goals of the game as Matt Dzieduszycki and Ryan O’Marra put the visitors ahead 2-0 but the McCoys tied the game at 2 before the end of the period as Trevor Atkinson and Cam Watson replied for the home side.

Stoney Creek scored three times in the middle frame as Coner O’Donnell, Nathan Pageau and Jarrett Konkle scored to give the Generals a 5-2 lead after 2 periods. Dzieduszycki added two quick goals in the final five minutes of the third period to complete his hat trick and close out the scoring for a 7-2 Generals win over the McCoys.

Daniel Svedin earned his 4th win of the season for the Generals after making 28 saves on 30 shots, while Mike Mole suffered the loss for the Real McCoys after stopping 29. Konkle and Dzieduszycki each had 4 point nights for the Generals while Cam Watson led the way for the McCoys with a goal and an assist.

Boxscore
 

Sat. Jan 14: Hamilton 5 at Whitby 7
Saturday’s game between the visiting Hamilton Steelhawks and the Whitby Dunlops was a back and forth affair as the teams traded goals one after another until Whitby broke the trend in third to come out on top 7-5. In the first period Whitby’s Kyle Ventura scored to put the Dunlops ahead 1-0, only to see Zach LaRue score late in the period for the Steelhawks to tie the game at 1.

Ventura scored his second of the game in the second period to put the home team ahead by one goal again, but Rob Vanwynsberghe scored for Hamilton to tie the game again. Just 30 seconds later, Whitby’s Kyle McLaughlin scored to restore the one goal lead, but Hamilton’s Dean Gilbert tied to score the game 3 minutes later. The Dunlops scored the final goal of the second period as Corey Tamblyn put the Dunlops up 4-3 after 40 minutes.

The Steelhawks fought back again to tie the game for the fourth time at 7:13 of the third period as Kyle McQuade scored. Ventura scored shorthanded for his third of the night a little over a minute later to give the lead to the Dunnies for the 5th time. A few minutes later, Jason Dale scored to give the Dunlops their first 2-goal lead of the game. There was no quit in the Steelhawks though, as Kevin Rebelo scored on the powerplay to get his team back within 1, but Whitby’s Patrick Jobb sealed the deal for the Dunlops with an empty net goal with 8 seconds left.

Jason Guy earned his league leading 11th win for the Dunlops after stopping 20 of 25 shots, while Dalton McGrath stopped 27 of 33 shots but took the loss for the Steelhawks.

Boxscore
 

Sat. Jan 14: Thorold 3 at Stoney Creek 7
The Stoney Creek Generals hosted the Thorold Athletics on Saturday night and came away with a 7-3 victory for their 6th straight win. Tyler Donati opened the scoring for the Generals in the first period, but the Athletics scored the next 2 goals to take the lead as Derek Nichols and Kaine Geldart both found the back of the net. Stoney Creek’s leading scorer Matt Dzieduszycki scored 14th goal of the season at 10:55 of the opening period to tie the game at 2, which is where the game stood after 20 minutes.

Stoney Creek took the lead on a Martin Lee goal and Donati added his second of the game with under 90 seconds left in the frame to spread the lead to 2. Steven Dol replied for the Athletics before the end of the period for his league-leading 17th as the teams went into the intermission with the score 4-3 for the Generals.

In the third period it was all Stoney Creek as the home team outshot Thorold 18-9 and scored 3 times while keeping the visitors off the scoreboard. Ryan O’Marra, Jarrett Konkle and Jason Popek all scored for the Generals to complete the scoring as Stoney Creek went on to win the game 7-3.

Matthew Sagrott made 24 saves for the win in net for the Generals and Colin Dunne stopped 49 of the 56 shots fired his way, but took the loss.

Boxscore
 

This Week:
Hamilton at Thorold - Fri, Jan 20 at 7:27 PM
Dundas at Brantford - Fri, Jan 20 at 7:30 PM
Whitby at Stoney Creek - Sat, Jan 21 at 7:15 PM
Brantford at Hamilton - Sat, Jan 21 at 7:30 PM

For standings, stats, results and more, visit: www.allancuphockey.com