73's draw first blood in opening game of round two
ESSEX - The Essex 73’s opened their semi-final playoff series in strong fashion Friday night, defeating the Amherstburg Admirals 6–3 at the Essex Centre Sports Complex.
Essex struck first midway through the opening period when Austin Guevremont scored on the power play at 9:22 to give the 73’s a 1–0 lead after the first 20 minutes.
The 73’s extended their advantage early in the second period as Jack Lewis found the back of the net cportesy of a breakaway at 2:28 to make it 2–0.
Amherstburg responded at 7:53 with a power-play goal from Stefan Djordjevic, cutting the lead to 2–1. For Djordjevic, it would be his 8th goal of the playoffs already.
Essex quickly regained control with a pair of goals less than a minute apart. Noah Mathieson scored at 11:43 for his first of the playoffs on a wrister from the slot, and Luke Sherk followed at 12:30 to push the 73’s lead to 4–1 heading into the third period.
Amherstburg made things interesting early in the final frame. Djordjevic scored his second of the game at 5:42, and Cooper Bulmer added a power-play goal at 8:12 to trim the deficit to 4–3.
The 73’s answered quickly to halt the comeback. Travis Rivest restored the two-goal cushion at 9:50 on a tip-in, and Andrew Baker sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:01.
With the victory, Essex takes a 1–0 lead in the series.
Essex eliminates Walpole Island in four straight games
The Essex 73's made quick work of the Walpole Island Wild in the opening round of the Stobbs Division playoffs, winning all four games and outscoring the Wild 37-2.
They will now await the winners of the Amherstburg-Mooretown series, and the Blenheim-Whealtey series. Should Whealtey come back from 3-0 and defeat Blenheim, Essex would get Wheatley in round two. If Blenheim can close off their series, then Essex would get the winner of the Amherstburg-Mooretown series, which Amherstbrug leads 3-1.
Whichever the team, the 73's will be well rested and ready to go.
Below is the scoring leaders for the 73's after round one;
