Athens Aeros Won Both of Their EOJHL Games Over Weekend

Athens – The Athens Aeros won both of their EOJHL games over this past weekend.

On Saturday night, they beat the Carleton Place Jr. Canadians 10 to 1.

Athens set the tone early and never let up, rolling to a lopsided road win in Carleton Place.

The Aeros opened the scoring at 4:35 of the first period when Cohen Merkley finished a play started by Cameron Kelly and Baron Gleason. Just three minutes later, Athens doubled the lead with a big momentum swing as Finnley Panciuk struck shorthanded, again with Kelly and Gleason involved, sending Athens to the intermission up 2-0.

The Aeros broke the game wide open in the second. Rylan Boyer cashed in on the power play early (1:36), with Merkley and Gleason picking up helpers, and Garritt Palmer followed later with another power-play marker off a setup from Panciuk and Merkley. Carleton Place briefly got on the board at 15:12 when Adamo Ghantous made it 4-1, but Athens answered quickly as Parker Kealey scored just over a minute later (16:18) on the power play to restore full control.

Athens poured it on in the third period. Merkley scored twice more — one at 7:28 and another at 13:22 — to complete a hat trick, while Baron Gleason added one at 8:40. Late in the period, Connor Poulin scored shorthanded (15:43) and Alex Tornberg added another shorthanded goal (16:44) to cap the offensive outburst. In goal, Nicholas Periard turned aside 26 of 27 shots as Athens improved to 8-15-4-0, while Carleton Place fell to 7-17-2-0.

On Sunday, the Aeros won a 6-4 decision over the Smiths Falls Jr. Bears at Centre 76.

Athens’ Rylan Boyer, with assists from Tornberg and Palmer, scored the Aeros’ first goal in the first period. Smiths Falls would respond with a goal from Waito (Conroy) to tie it at 1-1. Panciuk, with an assist from Merkley, would score the Aeros’ second goal of the night on a power play. Athens would score three more in the first from Kelly on a power play, Dixie (Nolan, Merkley), and McNulty (Panciuk, Poulin) to take a 5-1 lead at the end of the period.

Smiths Falls would score one goal from Hopley (Deshaw) on a power play in the second period.

In the third, Boyer (Gleason) would score the Aeros’ last goal of the game while Smiths Falls’ Colson (Parsons, Hopley) and Bourne (Parsons, Ilias) each picked up a goal for the Jr. Bears.

The Aeros are off the ice until this Sunday when they host the Perth Blue Wings. Game time at Centre 76 is 2:30 pm.

Saturday’s Game Summary:

1st Period:
1, Athens, Merkley 4 (Kelly, Gleason), 4:35 (SH). 2, Athens, Panciuk 2 (Kelly, Gleason), 7:31 (PP).

Penalties-Poulin Ath (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 2:53; Barnes Cpc (hooking), 6:08; Jansen Ath (major-kneeing), 8:21; Dixie Ath (roughing, misconduct – unsportsmanlike), 8:40; Tornberg Ath (roughing, misconduct – unsportsmanlike), 8:40; served by Green Cpc (too many men), 8:40; Boissonneault Cpc (roughing, misconduct – unsportsmanlike), 8:40; Ghantous Cpc (roughing, misconduct – unsportsmanlike), 8:40; Humby Cpc (interference), 14:01.

2nd Period:
3, Athens, Boyer 6 (Merkley, Gleason), 1:36. 4, Athens, Palmer 1 (Panciuk, Merkley), 6:05 (PP). 5, Carleton Place, Ghantous 10 15:12. 6, Athens, Kealey 4 (Kelly, Panciuk), 16:18 (PP).

Penalties-served by Sly (AP) Cpc (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 5:22; Ghantous Cpc (holding), 5:22; Gleason Ath (roughing), 7:35; Humby Cpc (interference), 10:23; Poulin Ath (roughing), 13:29; Box Cpc (roughing), 13:29; Townend Cpc (holding), 15:59.

3rd Period:
7, Athens, Merkley 5 (Kealey, Kelly), 7:28. 8, Athens, Gleason 5 (Panciuk, Boyer), 8:40. 9, Athens, Merkley 6 (Kealey), 13:22. 10, Athens, Poulin 4 (Slattery), 15:43 (SH). 11, Athens, Tornberg 2 (Mines), 16:44.

Penalties-Dixie Ath (boarding ), 9:43; Merkley Ath (boarding ), 14:20; McNulty Ath (roughing), 15:43; Ghantous Cpc (roughing), 15:43; Jaakkola Cpc (tripping), 18:13.

Shots on Goal:
Athens 12-15-11-38. Carleton Place 4-13-10-27.

Power Play Opportunities:
Athens 3 / 8; Carleton Place 0 / 5.

Goalies:
Athens, Periard 4-1-0-0 (27 shots-26 saves). Carleton Place, Clare 2-9-1-0 (32 shots-25 saves); Janisch 4-9-0-0 (6 shots-3 saves).

Sunday’s Game Summary:

Athens 6 – Smiths Falls 4

1st Period:
1, Athens, Boyer 7 (Tornberg, Palmer), 1:21. 2, Smiths Falls, Waito 3 (Conroy), 2:43. 3, Athens, Panciuk 3 (Merkley), 7:15 (PP). 4, Athens, Kelly 12 8:23 (PP). 5, Athens, Dixie 1 (Nolan (AP), Merkley), 12:25. 6, Athens, McNulty 7 (Panciuk, Poulin), 18:56.

Penalties-Waito Sfb (cross checking), 6:18; Colson Sfb (slashing), 7:58.

2nd Period:
7, Smiths Falls, Hopley 8 (Deshaw), 19:59 (PP).

Penalties-Laporte Sfb (holding), 8:23; Kealey Ath (cross checking), 14:42; Parsons Sfb (tripping), 16:41; Waito Sfb (roughing), 18:17; Tornberg Ath (roughing, roughing), 18:17.

3rd Period:
8, Athens, Boyer 8 (Gleason), 14:22. 9, Smiths Falls, Colson 6 (Parsons, Hopley), 17:52 (PP). 10, Smiths Falls, Bourne 15 (Parsons, Ilias), 19:56.

Penalties-Parsons Sfb (cross checking, roughing, misconduct – inciting opponent), 3:19; Kelly Ath (roughing, roughing, misconduct – inciting opponent), 3:19; Colson Sfb (cross checking), 3:59; Poulin Ath (hooking), 10:27; Dixie Ath (roughing), 17:10; McNulty Ath (interference), 17:46.

Shots on Goal:
Smiths Falls 11-17-16-44. Athens 22-9-9-40.

Power Play Opportunities:
Smiths Falls 2 / 5; Athens 2 / 5.

Goalies:
Smiths Falls, Bales 1-1-1-0 (40 shots-34 saves). Athens, Greig 4-11-2-0 (44 shots-40 saves).