Kincardine's comeback kids
By Josh Howald
These dogs don’t roll over.
The Carruthers Nicol Insurance Kincardine Bulldogs earned yet another come-from-behind win on the weekend. Friday night in Wingham, the Bulldogs spotted the hosts a four-goal lead, yet came back to an 8-7 win on the road.
It was the fifth straight win for Kincardine, and the third time this season they have dug out from a two-goal or more deficit to steal two points. The Bulldogs remain one point back of the first place Walkerton Hawks with 16 points and an 8-4 record, sharing second place in the Western Junior C League with the Mitchell Hawks (7-4-2).
Travis Donaldson scored just 21 seconds into Friday night’s game to give Wingham a 1-0 lead. When the period ended, the Ironmen held a 4-0 lead on goals from Darren Kerr, Drew Gross and Derek Elliott.
“We hung (goaltender) Gatlin (Burt) out to dry,” said head coach Jeff Alcombrack. “We just didn’t show up ready to play. We weren’t moving our feet or coming back into our own zone”
Kincardine was outshot 15-3 in the opening period. Alcombrack replaced Burt with Maxime Veilleux and made some adjustments to defensive end coverage, and his players did the rest.
“They really believed they could come back if they just pulled up the socks and went to work,” he said. “They got each other fired up in the room and they came out and started playing the way they usually do.”
It all started with a power play goal. Garrett Simmons scored from Jamie Miller while Elliott was serving an interference minor. Three minutes later, Shawn Stewart made it 4-2 from Chad Simpson and Jared Colling. Donaldson made it 5-2 for the hosts, but captain Brett Catto made it 5-3, scoring from Dave Mercer and Cody Britton with less than a minute left in the middle frame. Kincardine outshot Wingham 13-7 in the second period.
The ‘Dogs went on a tear, scoring five straight goals in a nine-minute span to start the third. Britton sparked things just 12 seconds into the period from Greg Scott and Mercer. Joel Alton tied the game from Colling and Tanner Simpson, and two minutes later Tanner Simpson gave Kincardine its first lead of the game, scoring from Miller and Alton. Mercer made it 7-5 from Britton and Catto, and Alton stretched the lead to 8-5 with 10 minutes remaining from Scott.
Wingham attempted a comeback of its own, scoring twice in the final two minutes to make things interesting. Elliott and Andrew Scott scored for the Ironmen, but it would end 8-7.
Veilleux stopped 14 of 17 shots he faced and gets credit for the win, while Ben Errington made 23 saves in defeat. He played all 60 minutes, with former Bulldog Justin Hammond watching from the bench.
Officials Dean Grahame and Dennis Watson had their whistles away, calling just four minor penalties in this one. League points leader Aaron Armstrong assisted on five Ironmen goals and now has 41 points in 13 games. That’s eight points more than Catto, who has 33 points in 12 contests.
As happy as Alcombrack was with the win, he is getting sick of playing catch-up.
“We have had two real big comebacks this year, and it does prove our character,” he said, “but they both happened because we had poor starts. I’m hoping we’re finished spotting teams goals, because it is only going to get harder as the season continues.”
In Walkerton Friday night, Haden Campbell had three goals and three assists as the Hawks hammered Goderich 11-1. Saturday, Exeter beat Mitchell 4-3 in an SOJHL interlock game, and Sunday Hanover smoked Mount Forest 7-1 while Mitchell doubled up the Ironmen 6-3.
This weekend, the Bulldogs will be in Hanover Friday night for an 8 p.m. start at the P&H Centre. Saturday, the Walkerton Hawks will be in town for a game that is likely to determine first place overall, at least temporarily, in the Western League.
Elsewhere, Walkerton is in Wingham Friday and Mount Forest visits Mitchell. Wingham is in Mitchell Saturday, and Mount Forest heads to Goderich.
Alcombrack will have two practices this week, and wants to keep the win streak alive.
“It is another good test for us,” he said. “They are both good teams with plenty of firepower, and we’ll use practices this week to get our focus and keep this train rolling.”