Photo by Adam Bramburger, Napanee Raiders General Manager
The Napanee Raiders opened their semi final series with a win over the Hanover Barons on the road! The last time these two teams met was in 1993 when the Raiders beat the Barons 4-games-to-2 to win the Schmalz Cup.
Thursday night in Hanover, the Raiders had a 1-0 lead within the first two minutes of the game thanks to a goal by Isaac Brown. Then Ben White scored late in the second period for a 2-0 Raiders lead. Trent Williams scored near the half way point of the third period for a 3-0 Raiders lead. Hanover would avoid the shutout by scoring their first of the series late in the third period with the extra man on the ice. Raiders win 3-1!
Friday night at the Best and Bash Arena, the Raiders hosted Hanover for game two in the series. Following a scoreless first period, Hanover scored twice early in the second. Michael Patrick then scored twice for the Raiders to tie the game. Hanover scored early in the third period to regain their lead, which as followed their fourth goal of the night for a 4-2 lead just after the half way point of the period. The Barons scored their fifths of the night on the empty net with just over a minute and a half left in the third period for a 5-2 Barons win.
Sunday night in Napanee, game 3 in the Raiders-Barons series took place. After a scoreless first period, Hanover scored their first of the night over half way through the second period for a 1-0 Hanover lead. With just over three minutes remaining in the third period, Ben White scored on a penalty shot to tie the game at 1-1 to send things to Overtime. Ben White scored his second of the night over half way through overtime to lead the Raiders to a 2-1 win!
The Raiders are 18-5 so far in the playoffs. They lead their Schmalz Cup Semi Final series against Hanover 2-1. The Hanover Barons are now 17-3 in the playoffs.
Looking to the other semi final series, New Hamburg leads Essex 1-0.
The remainder of the Raiders playoff schedule is as follows:
- Game 4 @ Hanover – Fri, Apr 25 @ 8pm
- Game 5 @ Home – Sun, Apr 27 @ 6pm
- *Game 6 @ Hanover– Tue, Apr 29 @ 8pm
- *Game 7 @ Home – Thurs, May 1 @ 8pm
- *If needed
If you’re unable to attend any game this season, tune in to 88.7 myFM game time for live play-by-play coverage with Trevor Struthers.
Written by Emily Chatwood
