By: Daniel Vazzoler
The Carleton Place Canadians and Rockland Nationals entered Friday’s game tied for second in the CCHL, and it were the Canadians who jumped ahead in the standings with a 4-2 win in Rockland.
Powered by the top line of Ben Tupker, Zach Tupker and Ryland Mosley combining for seven points, the Canadians also received a strong game in goal from Connor Murphy with a 23-save effort in the victory.
It was Zach who opened the scoring late in the first period with a power play goal for Carleton Place. The Canadians moved the puck around the attacking zone with Ben passing the puck to Brett Thorne at the blue-line. Thorne found Zach in the slot who then snapped his shot past Joseph Giacobbo for the 1-0 lead.
Ben added to the lead just 0:25 into the second period. Giacobbo stopped Cade Townend’s shot from the point, but kicked the rebound to the side of the net for Ben to deposit into the goal. A little over two minutes later, David Poirier added to the lead. The defenceman joined the Canadians rush and, like Ben’s goal, he was at the side of the net to get the rebound goal for a 3-0 advantage.
Rockland cut the Carleton Place lead down to a single goal with goals from Cameron Last in the second period and Josh Norman in the third period.
Elliott McDermott preserved the victory with an empty net goal on the power play, taking the pass from Zach before sliding the puck into the open net.
Next up, the Canadians return home on Sunday to face the Kemptville 73’s at 3 p.m.
