There was only 9.94 seconds left in the game when Kevin Cribari slammed home a rebound to tie the game 3-3 and earn the Waxers a point against the Wexford Raiders Friday night.  As per the usual, the game was extremely fast paced, intense, and a crowd pleaser.

Markham held the majority of the play through out the night, out shooting the Raiders 52-37.  Both goaltenders played well and came up with big saves when needed.  The defensive corps of both teams played well shutting down the teams' top players.  The offense on both teams provided exciting end-to-end action.

Wexford opened the scoring just about 9 minutes in to the game on a 3-on-2 to take the early lead.  The Waxers would tie the game over 3 minutes later on a powerplay.  Mark Menonte fed Cribari at the half boards and he found Derek Doucette cruising down the middle of the box.  Doucette deked two Wexford defenders and buried a quick wrister to knot the scotre at 1-1 after 20 minutes.

Wexford owned the first 7 minutes of the second period scoring twice for a 3-1 lead.  That seemed to wake up the Waxers who took the game over and played the majority of the rest of the period in the Wexfiord end.  It would take another powerplay before the Waxers could get on the board.  Cycling the puck down low, Jason Duffy moved the puck to Joey Grasso who hit Ben Cottreau behind the net.  Cottreau met the puck and stepped out the same side, fooling the goalie who was still looking to the other corner. Cottreau slid in the wrap around and the score remained 3-2 in to the late stages of the third period.

The Raiders did a good job of shutting down the Waxers for the majority of the third and held the advantage in shots and scoring chances.  It was not until the last 4 minutes that the Waxers were able to sustain any pressure.  With goalie Chris Lawrence on the bench for an extra attacker, the Waxers buzzed around the Raiders cage for the final minute.  Mark Menonte was able to chase down a rebound and found Pat Porretta alone on the back door and hit him with a perfect pass.  Porretta one-timed the puck and the Wexford goalie made a terrific save.  The puck went right to Cribari in the slot and he made no mistake beating the goalie between the legs.  

The Waxers had numerous opportunities in the overtime to end the game but were turned away time and again by the Wexford goaltender.  The game, in some what fitting fashion, ended in the 3-3 deadlock.

A gutsy and at times dominant performance by the Waxers but the question remains, which team will show up the rest of this weekend?

G A M E   S T A T I S T I C S

No.

 G

A

PTS

PIM

PPG

SHG

GWG

TOTALS