Cougars rediscover their winning groove at Stayner's expense
By Bill Rea

The Cougars' Brandon Lisi was trying to get by Stayner defender Adam Muir in the final seconds of Thursday's match, looking for one more scoring opportunity.

The Schomberg Cougars spent much of Thursday night demonstrating they really do know how to play hockey, and that they can put in a full 60 minutes.

The reward was a solid 6- 3 win over the Stayner Siskins.

But no matter how well a team plays, if they go up against one of the top clubs in their division with a short bench, they're going to have troubles. That was the Cougars' lot Friday night, as weather and illness kept the numbers down when they took to the ice in Penetang to face the Kings. The final score was 5-1.

Head Coach Gary Waldrum reported the match saw "a good effort by the guy who were there."

Brandon Lisi collected the goal for his mates, assisted by Dan Naccarrato and Adam Green.

Thursday was a much more enjoyable evening for the team, although the victory (just their second of the season) was not handed to them. Stayner was ahead 2-0 at the end of the first period, but the Cougars went to work in the second, knocking in three powerplay goals. The Siskins tied things early in the third, but Justin Brooks put away the winner with about nine minutes left on the clock, and a couple of more markers were added for good measure. Matt Steenhoek notched two goals, including a shorthanded shot that hit the middle of the empty Stayner net with a little more than a minute remaining. Mark O'Blenis, Naccarrato and Colin Murray got the other goals. Murray, Steenhoek and Brooks each notched two assists, with singles contributed by Shane Jones, Todd Cantelon, Eddie Wiederer and Curtis Gasko.

The Cougars' Dan Naccarato was named Player of the Month for the Georgian Mid-Ontario division of the Ontario Hockey Association for September and October. He received his prize before the start of Thursday's match, and it inspired him to go out and end his brief scoring slump.

The evening also saw Naccarrato being recognized as player of the month in the Georgian Mid-Ontario division for September and October.

"It was a good night," he remarked later. "Everyone played hard three full periods."

He added they didn't have much luck in the first period, but things came together the rest of the way.

"It was a good effort all around," Waldrum commented after the game.

"We reacted well to the 2-0 first period deficit," he added. "Instead of breaking into individuals, they came together as a team."

The shots-on-goal numbers still left something to be desired. Stayner was ahead in that department 36- 26. The coach agreed his men have get more shots away.

This came after a rough week for the team, as they had faced both Penetang and the Alliston Hornets.

Despite their efforts, they weren't able to beat either of their opposing goalies.

Things started last Thursday night when the side hosted the second-place Kings. The Cougars gave a good accounting of themselves. It was even reported that the officials passed on compliments for keeping so close to the Kings. But in the end, the visitors prevailed 4-0.

The Cougars did a good job of keeping their foes within reach most of the game, despite being badly outshot, to the tune of 40-18. But Penetang proved to be very good at jumping on the mistakes of their opponents, especially when they occurred in the Schomberg end of the rink.

"I think that we're still not doing the little things right," Waldrum observed after the game.

He added some of his men seemed to be trying to do too much and ended up turning over the puck before they had a decent chance to score. "That's what kills the zone play," he said.

Things got worse for the team last Friday night as they travelled to Alliston for a match with the first-place Hornets. The final score was 7-0.

"We didn't play well," was about all Waldrum had to say about that effort.

The Cougars get another crack at the Kings tomorrow (Thursday) night, and on their home ice. The match will start at 8:15 p.m. Friday will have them on the road to Fergus for an 8:30 p.m. start against the Devils.