Merchants Keep Rolling with Road Win in Belleville

By Mark Stehlin

The wins keep piling up for the Brooklin Merchants in this early stage of the season.  Last night they packed up their gear for the trek east to Belleville to meet the Kodiaks.  The Merchants hosted these new kids in the league on May 8 for their home opener at Iroquois Park Sports Centre and handed the Kodiaks a 14-5 loss.  Last night was more of the same as the scoreboard showed a 22-7 final for the Merchants who go 3-0 on the season while the Kodiaks look for their first win.

It took less than two minutes for Whitby Warriors Junior A graduate, Robbie Baxter to score his first of four on the night. That goal led off a run of five unanswered goals to give the Merchants a sizeable lead mid-way through the first period. Recently acquired forward Andrew Dalton earned a natural hattrick for his new team, in a four-minute span, and the Merchants were up 9-2 after only twenty minutes.

It would be more of the same in the middle frame. The penalty count on the night was relatively low, two minors for each side and a major to Griffin Poll for high sticking. That penalty did not slow down his Merchants teammates as they scored twice while short-handed en route to an 11-3 period score and after forty minutes the score was 20-5 for the visitors.

The third period was tame in comparison. Each side notched two goals and at the final buzzer the Merchants were on the right side of a 22-7 win.

Joining Baxter with four goals was Zach Miller. In addition to Dalton with three, rookie Owen Tapper also earned a hattrick. Landen Sinfield, Shane Halliwell and Carson Christy scored twice each and singles went to Quinn Hyland and Ciaron Costello. Ethan Harwood took the win in net for the Merchants.

Not a restful weekend for the Merchants. They are back on their home floor on Sunday as the Collinwood Cruise dock on the shores of Lake Ontario for a 4:00 p.m. contest.