Wins put Pirates fourth in Empire loop

The Picton Pirates shook off a nightmarish start to their weekend to rack up a pair of tough road victories and climb within striking distance of top spot in the Empire Jr. C loop.
Provided a man advantage and Leading 3-2 on home ice with just three minutes remaining in the game, the Pirates watched as the visiting Napanee Raiders scored a pair of shorthanded goals and added an empty netter to take the game 5-3.
“It was the toughest loss in my time here, no question,” Pirates GM Jason Parks said. “Those were a big two points hanging there and unfortunately, we didn’t grab them.”
Picton had the lead starting the third thanks to second period goals from Josh Macleod, Dylan Mountenay and Jack Davison.
“We played a sound third period right up to the collapse, keeping their scoring chances to a minimum but we picked the wrong time to get greedy and it cost us.”
Picton rebounded nicely, grinding out a 4-1 win over the Amherstview Jets on Sunday before getting a measure of revenge on Tuesday against the Raiders in a 4-3 contest.
“If we were going to lose Thursday, it was great to see us learn and take something from it and apply it going forward. I think coach Ryan Woodward did a tremendous job in addressing the situation and getting the players ready for our road game in Amherstview on Sunday night.”
In beating the Jets Sunday for the first time this season, Picton got goals from Mountenay, Evan Greer, Pat Millington and Adam Finley scored his first Jr. C goal to round out the Picton attack.
Matt Kaludis stopped 30 of 31 shots in winning his tenth game of the season.
The Trenton native was strong two night later, stopping 31 of 34 Raider volleys in the 4-3 win.
“He turned in two solid efforts in a row and that’s the type of goaltending we need if we are going to be successful in the league,” Parks said.
Picton gave up a pair of goals in the opening ten minutes of the contest and looked to be in for a long night before Ryan Sizer tallied at the 11:44 mark of the first.
The Pirates picked up the only two goals of the second, Greer and Davison finding the range to make it a 3-2 Picton lead.
Eric Hayes bagged the eventual game winner at 5:29 of the third on a nifty back hander.
Napanee would score with just six seconds left to make it 4-3, but not enough time was on the clock to mount a serious attempt at an equalizer.
The win leaves Picton with a 15-14-2 record, good enough for 32 points and fourth place in the ultra competitive Empire loop. Napanee leads the pack with 36 points while Amherstview is second with 34 points.