AURORA, ON- The Brantford 99ers hit the road to face off against the Aurora Tigers on Friday night. Aiden Berry started in goal for Brantford, and Yianni Karkoulas got the start for Aurora.
The 1st period featured 2 power play tallies. one for each side. Starting off with Aurora on the 5 on 4, defenceman Luke Hampel fired a shot through the crowd that deflected off a skate and past a screened Aiden Berry to open up the scoring for the hometown Tigers. Just a few seconds after the goal however, Tigers Bode Pearson was called for a tripping minor giving the 99ers a power play. Right off a face off, the puck trickled net front and Evin Kojokaro was able to get a stick on it before Karkoulas could cover the puck and he tucked it into the goal to tie the game. The score remained tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Fast forward to 7:06 into the 2nd frame, the 99ers were regrouping when they got stripped of the puck sending 2 Aurora players in all alone on a breakaway. Berry dived in desperation however couldn’t beat the cross crease pass and Connor Russo scored his 1st of the season reclaiming the Tigers lead. Once again the lead was only held briefly as a short 3 minutes later, Tyler Renneboog found Kyle Ferguson all alone out front who one timed the puck through the five-hole of Karkoulis for his 3rd of the season, tying the game at 2. Just over 2 minutes later, Connor Koropatnicki chipped the puck up the boards to Cameron Hankai who rushed into the offensive zone and fired the puck from the left side dot past the glove of Karkoulis for his 2nd of the season, giving the 99ers their 1st lead of the game. The score after 40 minutes of play was 3-2 for Brantford.
Spencer Borg continued his hot streak at the 12:08 mark of the final period when he skated in and wristed the puck over the shoulder of Karkoulis and into the back of the cage, doubling the 99ers lead with just under 8 minutes to play. When the game seemed to be in Brantford’s control, another turnover ended up in the back of Berry’s net to bring the Tigers to within 1. That would be as close as Aurora could get however, as in the final minute Garrett McCabe raced up the ice and stole the puck from the Tigers defender and Evin Kojokaro easily picked it up and deposited it into the empty cage, sealing the game by a score of 5-3. Aiden Berry stopped 31 of 34 shots on route to his 5th win of the season.
Watch all 5 Brantford goals here
The 99ers are back in action tonight as they head to Scotiabank Pond to take on the Toronto Jr. Canadiens. The puck drops at 8pm.
Stream all the action live on http://flohockey.tv.
