Steelheads Take Round 1 in Brampton!

Mississauga, ON – The Mississauga Steelheads made their first trip to the Powerade Centre for their annual Thanksgiving showdown with the Brampton Battalion. Spencer Martin got the call in goal for the Steelheads after having Friday night off with Clint Windsor debuting. Starting in front of him were Captain Stuart Percy, Dylan DeMelo, Riley Brace, Josh Burnside and new sensation Dylan Smoskowitz.

The game started out with Mississauga having some trouble putting pucks on net; still the Steelheads were able to jump out to a 1-0 lead on Dylan Smoskowitz’s powerplay marker from Riley Brace and Dylan DeMelo. It was Dylan’s third goal in as many games since joining the Steelheads from Barrie last Thursday. The rest of the period went by uneventfully, with the Steelheads holding on to a 1-0 lead going into the break, despite being behind 8-4 on shots.

The second period started with Brampton on the powerplay after a rare call on Spencer Martin, however the Steelheads were able to fend off the Battalion attack. Brampton finally began to make some noise on the scoresheet at 7:30 of the period, as Nick Foglia placed his shot over Spencer Martin’s shoulder to tie the game at 1. Brampton’s furious attack continued, as Brenden Miller converted a one-timer pass from Barclay Goodrow to put the Battalion ahead 2-1 on the powerplay. Goodrow then buried one of his own, his fifth of the season, just two minutes later, giving Brampton a 3-1 lead to end the second period; a period where they would go up 21-11 on the shot clock.

Brampton continued to play lock-down hockey in the third, suffocating Mississauga’s offense while blocking shots in front of Matej Machovsky. Brett Foy was finally able to put one through Brampton’s defense, redirecting Eric Diodati’s shot from the point past Machovsky to pull within one goal of the Battalion, Kristoff Kontos also picked up an assist on the play. Mississauga stayed on the attack, however would go down after a slashing call on Andrew Goldberg with just under 2 minutes to go in the game. Finally, with 31 seconds to go in the game, it would be Riley Brace who came through in the clutch yet again, snapping home the game-tying goal after being sprung by Dylan Smoskowitz. Trevor Carrick also picked up an assist on the shorthanded marker. As time ran out in regulation, Mississauga trailed 33-22 on shots.

Overtime kicked off for the second straight game for the Steelheads, after falling in their Friday night shootout against the Colts. On this day however, it would be Brett Foy who would come through as the hero after taking a pass from Kristoff Kontos and beating Machovsky at 2:51 of the overtime period. Trevor Carrick also picked up his second assist of the game on the play, as the Steelheads pulled their record to 3-3-1 despite being outshot 34-25.

Spencer Martin took home third star honours with a 31-save performance, while Brett Foy’s two-goal day earned him first star of the game. Barclay Goodrow of the Battalion was named the second star after his two point effort.

The Steelheads are back on the ice this upcoming Friday, October 12^th as the Ottawa 67’s make their first trip to Hershey Centre this season. Tickets are still available online at Ticketmaster, or in person at the box office. For more information, please visit our website at www.mississaugasteelheads.com, or follow @OHLSteelheads on Twitter!

Stephen Tihal
stihal@mississaugasteelheads.com