Cougars advance to North Carruthers Division Finals 

By Robert Belardi 

The Schomberg Cougars booked their ticket into the North Carruthers Division finals after erasing a 3-2 series deficit against the Orillia Terriers. 

With this win, the Cougars advanced to the divisional finals for the first time since 2015, when the club was a part of the Georgian Mid-Ontario Junior C Hockey League. 

“I'm just happy for the organization and to be a part of it. The Hulls are great people and they do a lot for their team,” said Cougars Head Coach Stan Kondrotas. 

“Obviously, we're thankful for the fans that we do have there. But we would also like to see the community and fanbase come out more to see exciting hockey; a very offensive hockey team that we have. We score a lot of goals, we're a fast hockey team.” 

The Cougars downed the Terriers 6-5 in 2OT last Thursday in Game Six and took care of business in Game Seven on the road last Saturday with a 5-1 drubbing. 

In Thursday's emphatic win, the Cougars went down by one early. After pressing the Terriers for the opening seven minutes, Terriers forward Josh Brown opened the scoring. 

Towards the end of the first period, the Cougars relentlessness paid dividends. A point shot from Marc Bottero trickled through Reed Spinola. There to poke it in on the doorstep was captain Cameron Kokelj. 

Fueled by the tying goal, Kokelj drifted into the slot and ripped a shot past Spinola with 10 seconds left in the frame to put the Cougars up by one. 

At the beginning of the second, Kokelj continued to dominate the game, firing home his hattrick goal just four minutes into the second period. 

Riding on a high, the Cougars lost a step, and in a span of six minutes, conceded goals to Sam Pink and Jayden Murison, setting up an epic third period. 

With just over five minutes left to play and down by one goal, the feisty Zach Gallow slapped the puck through the five-hole from the top of the right hashmarks to send this game to overtime. 

In the first overtime, Cougars goaltender Tristan Szymanowski stood on his head to keep the boys in it. In double overtime from the left side of goal, Luke Miehm's shot squeaked through Spinola to give the Cougars the win. 

In Game Seven on Saturday, the Cougars went in with a full lineup.

Christian Taylor and Stuart Barber returned. The Cougars chased Wade Monague out of the net forcing the Terriers to return back to Spinola. Luke Miehm and Chris Dirracolo scored twice, Barber contributed a goal and an assist, as the Cougars, earned a hard-fought victory on the road in front of 792 people at the West Orillia Sports Complex. 

Now into the divisional finals, the Cougars have a tough task ahead. The boys will be going up against the top team, the Stayner Siskins. 

The Siskins are coming off a heroic comeback victory, having erased a 3-0 series deficit against the Alliston Hornets in the previous round. 

“Our guys are focused and fired up. Everybody is hungry. They want to win,” Kondrotas said.

“We have as good a chance as anybody. I know our guys are prepared. Stayner, they're going to be ready. We just have to play our game and try to capitalize on things that Stayner does wrong.” 

The Schomberg Cougars kick off the North Carruthers Division finals Thursday on the road in Stayner at 8:00 p.m. 

Game Two will take place Saturday night at the Trisan Centre at 7:30 p.m. 

Game Three is in Stayner on Sunday at 1:30p.m. and game four, will take place on Tuesday night in Schomberg at 8:00 p.m.