By Ken Pagan
Having four lines that can do damage is a sign of a solid team and the Hamilton Kilty B’s showed that in earning an eighth straight win on Monday.
The fourth line of Mark Duarte, Nick Cordeiro and Holden Rogers provided the first three goals for the Kilty B’s, all the offence that was needed in a 5-2 win over the Thorold Blackhawks at Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena.
The Kilty B’s have won eight in a row and nine of their last 10 in building the fourth-best record (24-9-1) in the 25-team GOJHL.
“I honestly think we have the best group of forwards in the league,” said Rogers, who scored twice on Monday, including the GWG. “Our speed is insane and our defence is so good with the puck. When you have offensive forwards with speed and defencemen who are able to make those tape-to-tape passes on the fly, it makes everyone a lot more dangerous. I said tonight that I thought our fourth line could match up with their first line, so we were confident right off the start.”
Cordeiro opened the scoring 3:59 into the game and Rogers added two more before the game’s halfway point. Duarte had two assists on the night, while Cordeiro also had a two-point night. Rogers finished with three points. He now has nine points in his last seven games.
“At the start of the year, I had a couple small injuries and it just took me a little while to find my groove, but I had a couple multi-point games and after that I just started to build some chemistry with a lot of the guys,” Rogers said. “Playing with Duarte and Cordeiro now, we’ve had a few good practices lately and we just found a way to do it tonight.”
Marino Moro and Noah Bollert added goals in the third period. Nick Gidney and Devon Thibodeau scored for Thorold (13-18-3).
Kilty B’s goaltender Marco Costantini made 22 saves to earn the win. Hamilton outshot Thorold 37-24.
The game was a rematch of Thursday’s 2-1 overtime win in Thorold, the first game back from the holiday break for both teams. Derek Raposo, the MVP of the GOJHL Top Prospects game a week earlier, scored the overtime winner for the Kilty B’s. Chris Ishmael had the other goal. Blair Jenkins scored for the Blackhawks.
The Kilty B’s will look for their ninth straight win in a rare Thursday home game when the Fort Erie Meteors visit the Andreychuk Mountain Arena at 7 p.m.
Good seats are still available.
