Mark Stehlin
May 17, 2025
The Brooklin Merchants packed up their gear and made the trip to Hamilton last night for their fourth game in six days. After a stumble on the road to open the season, they recovered with three straight wins heading into last night’s contest against the Bengals.
This one went right down to the wire with Parker Pipher scoring with 0:30 showing on the clock to break the deadlock and give the visitors the 12-11 win for a record of 4-1 on the year that is now past the one-quarter mark.
“We knew this would be a test for the boys, Friday night of a long-weekend and on the road against one of our main competitors this year, but we answered the bell,” said a relieved Head Coach, Ryan Degerdon after the game.
The Merchants jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the opening period, responding to an early goal by the hosts. They rattled off three straight in the last two minutes of the frame to take the lead into the break.
The Bengals came out of the intermission with a snarl and put two quick ones behind Merchants starter Deacan Knott to close the gap to 5-3 with three minutes gone in that period. Within a two-minute stretch in the middle of the second period the Bengals clawed back with three straight and the Merchants knew they were in a contest. Good teams respond and the visitors added three unanswered of their own to match the Bengals. After the home side fought back late it was 9-9 after forty minutes and fans in the Dave Andreychuk Arena, former Toronto Maple Leaf player, (on a good night for them too) settled in for what was sure to be a great final period.
The third period saw more back and forth action with each team responding when their opponents scored. It came down to the wire and with a half-minute on the clock, Parker Pipher put one behind Bengals starter Lucas Nagy. The Bengals won the ensuing face-off and with 0:08 on the clock, Merchants defender Jacob Hickey intercepted a pass and ran out the clock for the thrilling win and all important two points.
The Merchants return to the ILA on Saturday May 24 for a 7 pm date with the Rivermen; their last trip there two weeks ago resulted in an 8-6 win over their hosts. They are home at IPSC on Friday May 30 at 8 pm to host the Ennismore James Gang.
Scoring for the Merchants – Renaud (1,3) Carrigan (1,0) MacLeod (4,3) Simard (1,0) McCrory (0,1) Elliott (0,2) D Pipher (2,3) Morgan (1,0), P Pipher (2,4)
Deacan Knott gets the win with 46 shots against.