WHITBY, ON (June 21, 2024) – The Toronto Beaches headed East along the 401 to Whitby for the second half of the head-to-head against the Warriors. After taking game one Thursday at home, the Beaches doubled up with a 9-7 victory at Iroquois Park on Friday.
Hamish McPherson and Matt Collison both lead the Beaches’ offence tallying five points each – Willem Firth secured yet another hat-trick to add to his season total.
Newly acquired Defender Eric MacDonald shut the door on the back end to earn himself the Wolfe Tone Player of the Game.
Just over three minutes after the opening face-off, the Warriors took the ball down the floor for the opening goal, with Max Taylor getting the accolades. Collison responded with a rip from up top, beating goaltender Ethan Harwood. With the game tied at one apiece, the Warriors dug in to take a two-goal lead by scoring two consecutive – one coming from the power play. Justin Hewitt and Jack Oldman get the credits.
Collison closed out the first period by nabbing his second, making it a one-goal game with 34 seconds left in the first.
Whitby took no time at all coming out of the first intermission strong, scoring two in the opening two minutes – Ryan Langille and Gabriel Sorichetti with the touches. Firth got on the board for the Beach shortly after, executing a passing play with Collison and Greg Palmer for his first at the 16-minute mark. Carson Christy got it back for the hosts a short four minutes later.
Palmer then lobbed one in front of the net, finding McPherson who slammed it down over Harwood to score short-handed. Seven minutes later, Firth stepped up from the point with a zipper to close out the period.
Beaches trailed the Warriors 6-5 heading into the final 20 of the game.
Yet to score the opening goal of the period, Beaches came out quickly with Palmer slipping one low on the power play 49 seconds into the frame. Will Sheehan got another for the Beach when he let a shot rip from the half with one second to go on the shot clock, beating Harwood and the buzzer, giving the Beaches their first lead of the game. Firth then received a slick pass from AJ Nikolic, danced on the crease, and buried for the Beaches’ second short-handed of the night.
Jake Darlison got on the board late to secure Whitby’s first of the final frame, making it a one-goal game with 40 seconds to go. However, Caden Hewitt added the much-needed insurance goal with an empty netter to help seal the 9-7 victory for the beaches.
The game is set at Ted Reeve Arena on Monday, June 24, with the opening face-off to take place at 8:00 p.m. ET.