On Sunday, the Raiders headed to Peterborough to take on the Phantoms, who also had secured a playoff spot by this point in the season, meaning both teams would be looking to build momentum heading into them. The Phantoms had the better start to the game when Ethan James was called into action early, making a great post save on the two on one break for the Phantoms. Despite the early pressure from the Phantoms, it was the Raiders who took the lead after a great stretch pass from Tom Relf, who found Zack Milton alone on the breakaway and who was able to find the back of the net. The lead was short-lived as Luke Ferrara scored a peach of a snipe to tie the game.
The Raiders began the second period on the powerplay, and within 14 seconds, Jake Sylvester dangled his way to the net and roofed the chance, restoring the Raiders’ lead instantly off the puck drop in the second. The Raiders went on to score yet another powerplay goal through Jesper Eriksson, whose shot took a deflection off a defender’s skate and found its way in, giving the Raiders a two-goal lead. However, the lead was cut to one after Ferrara was found at the back post to tap home for his second and his 100th point of the season. Once again, a lack of discipline from the Phantoms allowed the Raiders to score another powerplay goal, this time through George Norcliffe, with a shot right in front which was slammed in.
The third period saw the Raiders needing to hold onto a two-goal lead, and with the Phantoms’ depth in offense, they would need to be solid. However, it was the Raiders who struck first in the third period through defenseman Callum Wells, scoring his third of the season, with a blast from the blue line. The Phantoms struck back on the powerplay when Milton was called for a face-off violation, making it a two-goal game once again. The Phantoms pulled their netminder with 2 minutes and 59 seconds on the clock, which the Raiders took advantage of through Coy Prevost, who found the empty net to win the game 6-3.
Man of the match went to Phantoms’ Luke Ferrara for his brace of goals and Ethan James for the Raiders for his 42-save performance.
Raiders Scoring: Jake Sylvester 1+3, Zack Milton 1+2, George Norcliffe 1+1, Jesper Eriksson 1+0, Coy Prevost 1+0, Callum Wells 1+0, Tom Relf 0+1, Mikey Power 0+1, Aaron Connolly 0+1.
Phantoms Scoring: Ivan Bjorkly-Nordsrom 0+3, Luke Ferrara 2+0, Austin Mitchell-King 1+0, Lukas Sladkovsky 0+1, Callum Buglass 0+1, Tom Norton 0+1.
