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Majors Start Home and Home with a Loss to Niagara

January 21, 2011 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


Mississauga, ON - After a tough shootout loss in Erie last night, the Majors were back at the Hershey Centre this evening to begin a home and home series with the Niagara IceDogs. An already tough match up got a little tougher early in the day, when the San Jose Sharks called up goaltender JP Anderson, forcing Mississauga to call up Taylor Edwards from the London Nationals. The Majors played a tough game against Niagara in front of back up goaltender Mickael Audette, but eventually fell, 5-3.

The IceDogs got on the board first, with an unlikely source providing the goal when defenseman Luke Mercer took a shot from the point at 6:17. The shot took a funny hop and got past Audette to make it 1-0 Niagara. Alex Friesen had the only assist on the goal, Mercer's second of the season. That would be all the offense in the first period. The Majors took 11 shots on IceDogs goaltender Mark Visentin, who made several big saves to maintain the 1-0 lead for Niagara. Audette stopped 7 of 8 shots in the first.

There was a lot more offence in the second period as the two teams combined to score four goals. Joe Cramarossa was the first goal scorer of the period as he finally solved Visentin with a shot from the slot at 12:04. It was Cramarossa's 10th of the season. Defenseman Dylan DeMelo and David Corrente had the assists. The tie would not last as Steven Shipley scored to give the IceDogs back the lead at 15:23. Mercer and Simon Gronvaldt had the assist on Shipley's goal. Seconds later, Jordan Mayer was sent to box for hooking and the IceDogs took advantage on the powerplay. Friesen recorded his second point of the night and 20th goal of the season when he went top shelf on Audette at 16:40 to make it 3-1 Niagara. Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Strome had the assists. The Majors would get within one goal with just seconds remaining in the period. At 19:56, Michael D'Orazio blasted home his seventh goal of the season, and first as a Major, to make it 3-2 heading into the intermission. Justin Shugg and Marc Cantin had the assists.

Mississauga fell a little further behind the IceDogs early in the third when Freddie Hamilton scored his first of the night at 1:53 to make it 4-2. Mississauga refused to go down without a fight though. At 10:24, Rob Flick jammed home a loose puck to score his 20th goal of the season, making it 4-3 Niagara. Shugg had his second assist of the night on the Flick goal while Stuart Percy had the other assist. General Manager/Head Coach Dave Cameron then pulled Audette late in the period, in favour of the extra attacker. The extra body did not pay off for the Majors tonight, as Jason Wilson scored his 10th goal of the season to finally put the Majors away. Friesen and Freddie Hamilton had the assists on the final goal of the game.

In the end, Mickael Audette made 18 saves on 22 shots for the Majors, taking the loss. Mark Visentin made 31 saves for the win. The games three stars were Visentin (3rd), Flick (2nd) and Friesen (1st).

These two teams will meet again this Sunday when they finish off their home and home series in Niagara. Game time is 2:00 PM. The Majors next home game is on Friday, January 28 when they take on their rivals, the Brampton Battalion at the Hershey Centre at 7:30 PM. During the first intermission, Sarge and the Maniac will take each other on in the annual mascot hockey game. Tickets are available at the Hershey Centre box office or by calling, 905-502-7788 x. 1.

MasterCard Memorial Cup ticket packages are also available for as little as $495.00. Platinum ticket packages are already sold out. Call 905-502-7788 x. 1 or visit ticketmaster.ca for details.

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