TORONTO, ON (June 29, 2024) – The Toronto Beaches dropped a tight contest to the Orangeville Northmen coming up short in a 14-13 game in Overtime at Ted Reeve Arena on Saturday night.
Matt Collison led the Beach Boys on the offensive side of the ball, raking in eight points from three goals and five assists. Will Sheehan followed close behind with six points, consisting of three goals and three assists.
Rookie Forward Ryan Gonsalvez gets to work, tallying two assists in his fifth game with the Beaches.
Just over two minutes after opening face-off, Northmen transition ace Aiden Long opened the scoring at The Sandbox. The next eight minutes saw Trey Deere and Bowie Horsman grab one each, building a three-goal lead for Orangeville. However, two minutes after Horsman’s goal, Beaches defender Eric McDonald jumps up and nets one for Toronto’s first.
Hamish McPherson goes to work on the power play and scored with 21 seconds to go to cut the Northmen lead to 3-2 after 20 minutes of play.
Willem Firth made his first splash of the game to open up the second period – Greg Palmer followed suit, scoring his first five minutes later at the 12:36 mark, taking the lead. However, Deere quickly tied the game up at four apiece.
The Northmen buckled down on the penalty kill, putting the pressure on the Beaches, where they scored four short-handed goals in a row. Credits go to, Liam Matthews, Deere, and Joey Spallina, who had two. Palmer stopped the Orangeville run at the 2:08 mark of the period, scoring one on the power play after a pass from Firth connected – Sheehan chalked a goal unassisted on the power play a minute later.
Special teams was done yet, as Deere connected for yet another short-handed goal to close out the period.
Beaches trailed the Northman by three heading into the third.
Orangeville quickly opened the period with a goal at the 18:55 mark out of the stick of Horsman. Both teams would trade two goals each – Firth and Collision inking the scoresheet for the Beaches, and Deere and Spallina for the Northmen.
Toronto catches wind at the halfway mark, with Peyton Booth kicking off a four-goal run to tie the game up at 12 across the board. Sheehan found the back of the net twice, with Collison getting on as well.
Spallina spoiled the fun with three and a half minutes left to go in the third period, putting the Northmen back ahead. However, Beaches big man Collison takes matters into his own hands and scored on an outside shot with 1:21 left in regulation. That sent the game into overtime.
After winning the opening face-off, it took just 22 seconds for the visitors to end the game, with Horsman finding twine on an outside shot to send Orangeville home with a win.
The Beaches have the majority of the next week off before they return to action for their final two games of the regular season. They’ll travel down the Gardiner to wrap up the Crombie Cup against Mimico on Friday night. Opening face-off is slated for 8:00 p.m. ET.