Braves Weekly Wrap-Up with Harper Cotie – Braves Go 1-0-1 In Weekend Games

by Harper Cotie – Voice of the Braves

Brockville – Before recapping the games from this past weekend, what a week for Braves forward Kimani Eccleston! The 17-year-old not only signed with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves but also received an invitation to try out for Team Canada East ahead of the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge (Dec. 9-15) in Camrose, Alberta. Braves Head Coach/GM, Dustin Traylen comments:

“Kimani’s worked exceptionally hard coming off last season as a 16-year-old in our program. Had a great offseason came in and has become a leader at such a young age, he wears an “A” for us on his jersey. Has worked his way into this position, was already committed last year to Union College (NCAA), and now it is been an absolute dream week for him.”

Eccleston registered an assist in two outings with the Wolves as an affiliate last week.

On Friday night against the first-place Rockland Nationals, the Braves delivered an impressive 5-3 win in front of a loud crowd at the Brockville Memorial Centre. The biggest takeaway from the game has to be the way the Braves started with Ben Albright’s dish over to Jesse Lumsden on a two-on-one for his fifth of the season at 4:11, and then Max Treppo’s long stretch pass to Brandon Paluszak, which lead to his eighth of the season at 15:03 to give the Braves a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. It was by far the best first period of the season for Brockville.

On Sunday in Pembroke, the Braves picked up a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Lumber-Kings. After a scoreless opening period, the Braves struck twice in the second with goals from Liam Harry and Ben Albright to go up 2-1, but then allowed an early third-period goal from Lumber-Kings’ forward Spencer Bowes, and the eventual game-winner in overtime from former Brave, Eric Barnard.

All in all, a solid weekend through two games for the Braves to improve their record to 11-11-3 and hang on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the standings. The Braves’ next home game is Friday, Dec. 6 vs. the Cornwall Colts.