AMHERST – The Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers may have scored an early lead in their home game Saturday night against the visiting Yarmouth Mariners, but the team ran out of horsepower.
The Ramblers opened the game with the first goal, scored by Danny Harquail, with Jeff MacPherson and Josh Pugsley both earning assists, 14:56 into the first period, heading into the second period with a 1-0 lead.
Cam MacDonald scored the team’s second goal on the power play, assisted by Kody Orr and Ben Berisha. The Mariners earned their first goal of the game, also on the power play, scored by Ben MacSwain, with Colin Campbell and Connors Rogers earning assists. Jacob Conrad kept the Ramblers in the lead scoring the team’s third goal with Patrick Harrison earning an assist, but the Mariners weren’t far behind with Brandon Bussey, assisted by Cody Castro and Zack Henry, scoring their team’s second goal, ending the second period with a score of 3-2 in favour of the Ramblers.
“We had a lot of pressure on them and then we took a bad penalty up 3-1 and they scored on it,” said Ramblers coach Jim Bottomley. “It gave them a little momentum and we got ourselves into a little trouble then and they just kept coming. It was a tough game, something we have to learn from. We played three top teams and we’ve lost two in overtime shootouts and this one here. Both times we’ve had the game in our hands.”
Yarmouth came back hard in the last period of play, evening out the score with a goal from Zack Henry, with Brandon Bussey and Cody Castro earning assists, just 3:19 in. The Mariners pushed passed the Ramblers, scoring their fourth goal on the power play, scored by Colin Campbell with Ben MacSwain earning an assist. The Ramblers tied up the game with a goal from Patrick Harrison, with Brett Shute and Danny Harquail earning assists. But the Mariners’ Zack Henry and Colin Campbell scored two final goals to secure the Mariners’ win.
By making a couple of mistakes and having a couple of penalties, Bottomley said it allowed for the Mariners to thrive and take home the win.
The Ramblers travel to Truro on Sunday for another weekend game when they face off against the Truro Bearcats.
jturner@amherstdaily.com
