Nepean Raider Nation

Down, but not out
Raiders vow to battle back from 2-0 deficit
Malcolm MacMillan
They’ve had their backs against the wall and overcome the odds in the past.
On Friday, this Nepean Raiders team will show what character it has and what gas it has left in the tank.
The club dropped its first two games in the opening round of the Central Junior Hockey League playoffs, and will have a tough mountain to climb tonight on the road against the Brockville Braves, a team that lost just four regular-season contests at home.
But head coach Gerard Cowie isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.
“We’ve just got to get that first win under our belt,” he said following his squad’s 5-2 loss to the Braves in game two on March 11.
Nepean has yet to play its ‘A’ game in this series, and were beaten to pucks and knocked around by a physical and determined Brockville squad in game two.
Though the Raiders are the bigger team on paper, the Braves came out hitting early. In the opening minutes of the period, Nepean defenceman Greg Eskedjian was belted with a hard hit along the boards and needed to be helped to his feet.
As the game wore on, Nepean’s frustration in facing what looked to be a second straight loss was clear. The second and third periods were chippy, and tempers were close to boiling over with just 15 seconds left in the game. Nepean’s Brad Barber, Pat Tallis and Corey Domenico shoved and grappled with their Braves counterparts in front of the Brockville bench – the only thing that kept gloves from being dropped was the threat of a suspension for game three for fighting in the last 10 minutes of a game. But as the clock ran out, winger Shane Bakker tried to goad any Braves opponent he could into fighting him.
Keeping up that intensity, but staying disciplined, will be a key for the Raiders in game three.
“We have to be more physical,” said Cowie. “We had a good game [in Brockville] in game one and just have to get on a roll. We are determined to do it.”
Brockville’s Shayne Stockton and Kyle Atkins made the score 2-0 by the 14th minute of the first on two goals that Raiders goalie Darren MacDonald cannot be blamed for. Both came on power-play shots through traffic, and the first was deflected in front.
Unbowed, the Raiders answered back with a pair of scores before the end of the period.
Brandon Edge, who has scored in two straight playoff games, took a nice feed from Ryan Medel and fired a low shot that eluded Clarke Saunders on his stick side. Minutes later, veterans Andrew Mather and Stephen Miles connected. After Mather made a good effort to keep the puck in the Braves end, Miles outworked his attacker in the corner and fed Mather, who had skated into the slot.
Though the Raiders got a momentum boost after killing a four-minute penalty to Miles in the second, they couldn’t get on the board. In fact, both teams came up scoreless in the second frame, but the third was all Braves, who outshot Nepean 11-3.
A pair of defensive miscues resulted in Brockville’s third and fourth goals, before the Braves added an empty-netter.
“We’ve been [very] close to a win [in the first two games],” said Cowie. “We have to continue to work hard, earn our breaks and we’ll go from there.”
Regardless of Friday night's outcome, the teams will play a crucial game four at home on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is 2:30 p.m. at the Nepean Sportsplex’s Steve Yzerman Arena.