Goals hard to come by as Pirates lose a pair

Captain Ian Harrison and forward Gerrit Kempers look on during action against the Port Hope Panthers.Despite plenty of activity around him, Port Hope net minder Dominic Marquis was able to blank the likes of (From left) Ian Harrison and Gerrit Kempers in a 5-0 Panthers win. (Jason Parks/Picton Gazette)

JASON PARKS
PICTON GAZETTE-EDITOR

A weekend after taking five of a possible six points, the Picton Pirates were on the receiving end of some spectacular goaltending performances.

While the Pirates probably didn’t deserve to win at home on Thursday night, the sum of their efforts should have provided a closer contest than the 5-0 loss handed to them by the visiting Port Hope Panthers.

On Saturday, the locals shipped north to Frankford but couldn’t muster much from their carbon fibre cannons and dropped a 3-1 result to the division leading Huskies.

THURSDAY

Less than a week after shocking Port Hope on home ice, the Panthers repaid Picton with a visit to Huff Estates Arena and the star of the contest was visiting starter Dominic Marquis.

Mr. Marquis was equal parts brilliant and opportunistic in the Panthers net, stopping all 37 volleys sent his way. For Picton, it was just their second time being shutout in 2023-24.

To say the Pirates were deficient in puck luck around the Port Hope net would be an understatement. Josh Sainthill and Noah Richard each beat Picton starter Ethan Schwarz in the opening frame to stake Port Hope to a 2-0 lead.

Picton came close to tying it up early in the second as Zach Brooks, Nick Kirby and Ian Harrison had clean looks at the Panthers net only to have their attempts ricochet of a menagerie of Port Hope sticks and legs. In the event a puck did leak through the defence, Mr. Marquis was there to flash the leather and keep the Pirates off the board.

The game was taken out of reach at the midway point of the second. Dailen Fousek scored on back-to-back shifts to make it a 4-0 cushion in favour of Port Hope.

Picton was thwarted from getting on the scoreboard time and again in the third. Issac Langdon would score an empty netter with under a minute to play to make it a 5-0 final.

SATURDAY

On Saturday, Picton was facing a new netminder in Dean Spry but their offence was once gain stuck in neutral.

Despite outshooting the hosts 14-11 in the first, Picton fell behind 2-0 thanks to goals by Karsten Leonard and Blake Ellis.

In the second, the local carved into the lead as Aiden Treverton set up Mr. Kirby in the early moments of the second to make it 2-1 Frankford.

But the Huskies restored their two goal lead when Dylan Foster beat Mr. Schwarz at the 6:41 mark of the third.

Picton was lucky to be in the contest late as Mr. Schwarz faced 17 shots in the final stanza.

The Pirates host Napanee Thursday for their lone contest this week.