AMHERST – The Amherst Ramblers fought hard Saturday night in their home game against the Yarmouth Mariners. But even after a quick come back, the team suffered a 3-2 loss in over time.
“We got behind early with a couple of deflections that got behind us, but the boys battled hard,” said Ramblers coach Jim Bottomley. “We were short in the line here tonight with MacPherson and Berisha out and Brock Morrison was hurt early on.”
Bottomley said he was proud of the team’s effort.
“We never gave up,” he said. “We kept working but with a call like that late in the game, it’s tough to take. You look at the score and it’s a close game with only 30 seconds left.”
With only seconds to spare in the third period, Rambler Cam McDonald was called for interference and a 10-minute misconduct. With McDonald out of the game, the Ramblers entered over time down a man and Yarmouth scored late in the power play to win it.
“We came close (to winning) tonight and hopefully we sent them the message that we’re not going to stop,” said Bottomley. “We got one point out of it but it would have been nice to get two.”
The Mariners took an early lead in the first period, scoring two goals from Derek Larade and Josh Desmond with Kevin Reid, Ben MacSwain, Colin Campbell and Zack Henry earning assists. Mitchell O’Neil took in the team’s first goal with 1:35 to spare. Jesse MacInnis and Kody Orr both earned assists.
It was a tense second period, the Ramblers coming into it trailing by a single goal. Maxime Richard tied up the game, assisted by Patrick Harrison.
No goals were scored during the third period, sending the game into over time.
With the Ramblers down a player for sudden death over time, Mariners’ Josh Desmond, assisted by Rodney Mahoney and Zack Henry, took in the winning goal, sealing the team’s victory.
The Ramblers are on the road Sunday for their game in Dieppe against the Dieppe Commandos.
jturner@amherstdaily.com
