Royals end CCHL2 season on winning note with 5-1 win over Winchester

by Jeff Morris, Manotick Messenger

Jake McArthur had a hat trick to help the Richmond Royals end their Central Canada Hockey League 2 season on a winning note with a 5-1 win over the Winchester Hawks Sun., Feb. 25 in Richmond.

The win gave the Royals a 2-2 record over the final week of the Junior B season. They beat Char-Lan 5-2 at home Mon., Feb. 19, lost 9-6 in Winchester two nights later, and then lost 6-4 on the road in Athens.

Things did not start well for the Royals last Sunday. Joey Driscoll scored to put the Hawks ahead 1-0. A dust-up in the final minute of the period saw Ryan Bonfield, one of Richmond’s top offensive weapons, ejected from the game.

In the second period, the Royals bounced back to take control of the game. North Gower’s Patrick Yates tied the score for the Royals with a power play goal from McArthur and Mason Farnes. McArthur then put the Royals ahead late in the period with a goal from Ryan Pawlikowski.

In the third, it was all Richmond, with the Royals outshooting the Hawks 17-5.

McArthur scored his second and third goals of the game early in the period. The first was on the power play from Yates and Pawlikowski at 1:01, while the next goal came at even strength on a feed from Pawlikowski at 4:34.  Pawlikowski got his third point of the game as he scored on the power play from Owen Scott and Brendan Wood at 8:14 of the third period.