WINDSOR, N.S. — The Windsor Royals are hoping to tie the Best of Seven divisional semifinal with the Spryfield Attack on this weekend.
The Junior C boys are in action Feb. 23 (at 4 p.m.) and Feb. 24 (at 5 p.m.) at the Hants Exhibition Arena in Windsor.
The Royals deserve credit for their performance so far. They went into Spryfield Feb. 15 and Feb. 16 to face a league power-house. They lost the first game 6-4 and the second, in double-overtime, 5-4.
In the game on Feb. 16, the Attack scored 1:57 into the second overtime to seal the victory and take the 2-0 series lead.
William Earley was brilliant in the Royals’ net as he stopped 46 of 50 shots he faced for a .920 save percentage.
The Royals trailed 1-0 after the opening period.
In the second, Brett Verge tied it for the Royals before Spryfield came back with a pair of goals 1:10 apart to take a 3-1 lead.
Alex Kelly brought the Royals back to within a single goal before the Attack scored with 3:42 to play in the second period.
Chad Woodill and Kelly scored goals 2:25 apart in the third to knot the game at 4-4 and force overtime.
In the Friday night contest, the Royals took a 2-1 first period lead on goals from Alexander Carr and Cole Godfrey. The teams were tied 3-3 after 40 minutes, with Kelly scoring the lone Royals goal in the middle frame.
In the third, Spryfield scored goals 59 seconds apart before Woodill scored for the Royals to bring them to within one. Windsor was unable to tie the game and ended up giving up a power-play goal to lose 6-4.
If the Royals win at least one game over the Feb. 23-24 weekend, they will force Game 5 in the series. Otherwise, they will be eliminated from further playoff contention.
