Mooretown, ON – It was a rough night for the Mooretown Flags who allowed six goals in the first 22 minutes of the game as part of a 9-5 loss to the Essex 73's in Junior C hockey.

 

Brian Hamlin made it 1-0 on the powerplay for the 73's to open the scoring, followed by Scott Bromley a minute later to make it a 2-0 Essex lead.

 

Aaron Schieman would could the lead in half, deflecting a Dan Lumley point shot in on the powerplay to make it 2-1. But control problems would hamper the Flags through the rest of the period and into the second.

 

Hamlin would get his second of the period after picking up a loose puck in the slot and beating Andrew Ganter to make it 3-1. Adam Dunmore would make it 4-1 after a shot on Ganter would produce a huge rebound which Dunmore would pick up and put in the back of the net, as Essex took control of the game.

 

In the second the rebound control problems continued to be problematic for the Flags, as Tyler Pope-Ferguson would score two goals 32 seconds a part, each time picking up a rebound and putting it past Ganter.

 

Seth Hellinga would come into net for the Flags, who would turn it around for the remainder of the period. Cody Schmidt would get the Flags back on the board, followed by Vody Hardman and Spencer Bronzi with a powerplay goal to cut the lead to 6-4 after two periods on play.

 

Mike Burns would bring it to within one in the third period, scoring midway through to make it 6-5. But from there the 73's would again take control, scoring three unanswered goals. Adam Dunmore would pick up his second of the game, while Chad Hedrick and Brett Beattie would each pick up single goals, as the 73's take it 9-5.

 

Ganter made 18 saves on 24 shots, while Hellinga made 19 saves on 22 shots.

 

It is the second straight loss for the Flags, who haven't lost back to back games since the first two games of the season. The Flags will next take on Dresden on Friday, October 28th before returning home on Saturday to take on Alvinston.