Titans survive the shot barrage, take two of three in gritty weekend set

George Le Gresley

Sports Correspondent

The Titans faced the New Hamburg Firebirds last Thursday at the BSC and defeated them 4-2, despite being outshot 58-35. Calvin Gardner in net earned the first star of the game for being bombarded with more rubber than a Brantford recycling plant, a fact that made the coaches unhappy despite the win.

The Titans potted the only goal of the period, off Blake Kersey’s stick and assisted by Spencer Edwards and Jack Kersey.In the second period, the Firebirds had only one goal: to tie the game at 1-1. In the third period, despite being outshot 24-16, the Kersey brothers, Blake and Jack, dominated the score sheet, first with a power-play goal by Blake, assisted by Jack and Jay Metler, for a 2-1 lead. The Firebirds tied it at 2-2 on a power play, followed by Duncan Dodd scoring and assisted by Jack Kersey, which would be the game winner. Titan Kohen Kirby put the win in jeopardy by earning two minor penalties on the same play and allowing a 5-on-3 power play for the last 1:18 minutes of the period! Fortunately, Jack Kersey took a pass from brother Blake to score an empty netter and a final score of 4-2. Last Friday, the Titans headed to Tavistock Braves for the second of three games in a row and were defeated 5-2. Tavi scored 3 goals in the first period and a power play goal. In the second period, defenseman Ben Easson scored off a pass from Aidan Switzer. In the third period, the teams exchanged goals, with Jay Metler and Carter MacKay assisting on Josh Russell’s goal.

On Saturday at home, the Titans welcomed the Hespeler Shamrocks in their final matchup of the season. In the first period, Hespeler opened the scoring, with Keegan Clarke tying it up at 1-1, with assists from the Captain, Ryan Gardner-O’Keefe and Austin Christian. The second period was all Paris, who missed scoring opportunities on four power plays. Still, the second period ended with goals by Kohen Kirby and Jack Kersey, giving Paris a 3-1 lead.  In the third period, Hespeler scored on a power play goal to make it 3-2. The Shamrocks pulled their goalie at the end of the third period to no avail as Keegan Clarke scored on the empty net for a 4-2 win.

Despite winning two out of three games, the team and coaching staff need to work on the two games left in the season. The Titans' next game will be on Sunday (February 15 at 7:30 p.m.) during the Family Day weekend at the Brant Sports Complex, followed by an afternoon Family Day match in Woodstock.