BRANTFORD – The Whitby Dunlops looked flat right from the opening face-off Friday night at the Brantford Civic Centre as the ACH Sr AAA Blast reined in a 7-4 win. The victory moved the Blast into a second place tie with the Dunnies; however, Brantford holds a game in advantage.
While many of the fans were still finding their seats, Derek Medeiros gave the Blast a 1-0 lead 17 seconds after the opening face-off. Jeff Caister made it 2-0 at 13:04, but Whitby goaltender Jason Guy kept his team from being blown out in the first period with several fine saves as the Blast peppered him with 16 shots in the first 20 minutes.
The Dunlops had a much better second period and outshot Brantford 14-10 with each team trading late period goals. Brett McConnachie made it 2-1 at 17:16, which Medeiros answered at 18:13 from Joel Prpic and Brandon Dietrich.
There was lots of scoring in the third, starting with Prpic’s second of the night at 3:04. Whitby ran a quick string of three goals between 10:09 and 11:53 to make it 4-4.
Prpic halted the Dunlops advance with his second of the night. Cam Sault scored an insurance goal from Jamie Williams at 14:09 before Prpic netted a powerplay goal for this hat trick, with 37 seconds left.
Prpic and Medeiros combined for 5 goals and 4 assists to power the Blast, and Anthony Marshall recorded the win in the Brantford goal, stopping 29 of 33 shots.
Since joining the Blast four games ago, Medeiros has amassed 6 goals and 6 assists for 12 points, while Prpic has 3 goals and 4 assists since returning to the Blast lineup three games ago.
The Blast see action next Friday, Nov. 22, when the Real McCoys of Dundas are back at the Civic Centre for a 7:30 start.
