Sunday, February 10th, 2008 Pickering-3 @ Toronto-5 (en) PODERZAY SOLID STOPPING 46-SHOTS... WATKINS SCORES A PAIR... PANTHERS BATTLE TO THE END IN LOSS. TORONTO, ON:Brennan Poderzay turned aside 46-of-the-50 shots he faced in an excellent performance, as the Pickering Panthers dropped a competitive, and hard fought matchup to the Toronto Jr. Canadians. The 1st period saw Toronto jump out of the game and pepper Poderzay with 25-shots, two of them finding the back of the net courtesy Kyle Wettering and Greg Payne. In the 2nd, it was the Panthers would came out with the jump, and generated a pair of excellent scoring chances, both of which beat goaltender Matt Dickson – but neither could beat the goalpost and the crossbar. In a cruel twist of fate for Pickering, the Toronto transition offence stepped up and generated an odd-man, shorthanded rush. Payne would convert for his 2nd of the game. In less than five minutes, the game went from inches away from being 2-2, to sitting at 3-0 for Toronto. Late in the 2nd period, Brendan Hann would convert on the powerplay for his 9th of the season, and send the teams to the 3rd period two goals apart. Early in the 3rd period, a reward for Pickering. Rookie Cole Watkins, who joined the team midway through the season and has battled each and every night, converted on a play from AP Midget call-ups (Marco Ciavlaviello, Andrew Byk) for his 1st Career Junior-A goal. Suddenly it was 3-2 in the 3rd. And the shorthanded Pickering bench was alive, giving it a gutsy effort to keep up with the speedy and well conditioned Junior Canadiens squad. “This is the best I’ve felt since last years playoffs.” said Captain Daniel Mandel during the contest. As the Panthers were battling a supporting each other, trying to get the game-tying goal. Poderzay continued to be excellent all game. With Pickering pressing to tie, odd-man rushes into the Pickering were a risk to be taken, but when they happened, Poderzay may several solid saves, and pulled out some spectacular stops to keep Pickering close. Midway through the period, a bad bounce for Pickering gave Toronto their two goal lead back. Giordano Tarantino fired a puck on goal that weaved and bounced through a maze of legs, sneaking just inside the post. Pickering would pull their netminder to try and get back in the game, but the gamble failed. Greg Payne would add his 3rd of the game into the yawning cage to make it 5-2. Determined to finish the game, and season strong, the Panthers continued to work, and generated a 3rd goal, courtesy Cole Watkins with his 2nd of the game. Make the final 5-3 (en) for Toronto. With the season winding down, and the two teams not meeting again, the coaching staff’s met, with good luck wishes for the playoffs from Mark Joslin to Tyler Cragg, who in turn wished his best to Pickering for the remaining games, and working towards next season. Pickering has two more games on the schedule, both at home: Tuesday vs St. Michael’s at 8:30pm Wednesday vs Markham at 7:30pm COPYWRIGHT PICKERING PANTHERS JR.A HOCKEY CLUB NEXT GAME ST. MICHAEL'S @ PICKERING TUE.FEB.12th 8:30PM 2007 NCAA COMMITMENTS NCAA DIV.I MICHAEL BANWELL MAINE NCAA DIV.I RICHARD SCHOFIELD LAKE SUPERIOR NCAA DIV.III BRAD FOGAL ADRIAN COLLEGE NCAA DIV.III KEVIN HUININK SALEM STATE NCAA DIV.III MATT RIGTRUP STM PURPLE EAGLES 2007 OHL SIGNINGS JESSES HEBSCHER SUDBURY ZACK FENWICK KINGSTON KAIN ALLICOCK SAGINAW CODY SMITH LONDON