The Kitchener Jr Rangers MD Red team took a 3 to 1 points lead in the series by beating the Cambridge Hawks 3 to 1 Saturday.
In the 60th game for the Rangers Red team, the Rangers took to the ice determined and confident. Ready to battle hard and battle they did! The Rangers played a smothering defensive game that pushed the Hawks to the outside and much of the play happening in the Hawks zone. Carter Niall opened the scoring in the game on a rebound from Nicholas Zammit, who had a nice feed from Justin Hay. The trio were very strong forecheckers and created offense all game by passing the puck well. Braydon Houlihan scored the insurance marker and winner with a pair of goals for the Rangers. His first one from Niall and Carter Bowman and the next one from Denver Heiman and the sparkplug Jacob Fisher.
Connor Coughlin, Brett Herniman and Heiman made life hard on the Hawk defenders. Coughlin would carry the puck into the zone creating chaos and look for the two snipers.
Hayden Smith was rock solid for the Rangers and celebrated his 20th win of the season (six coming in the way of a shutout) in style making many great saves and tracking the puck perfectly for the Rangers. He was a key part of a defense that played amazing. Rashuan Williamson, Logan Hock, Keenan Hack, Yianni Peppas, McDonald and Noah Park pressured the Hawks players in the zone and were effective with clearing the zone quickly.
The entire team put in the hard work and effort that makes for a very proud caching staff. The Rangers will need to elevate their play to another level tomorrow if they want to earn the final point needed to win the series. The Rangers family and friends were loud and passionate in Cambridge and really sparked the boys. The boys look forward to hearing an even louder and exciting rink home at Activa! Great work parents!
Go Rangers!