Western Capitals Split Home-and-Home Series After 4-2 Loss to Ramblers

By Reegan MacAulay

The Summerside Western Capitals fell short of completing a home-and-home series sweep, dropping 4-2 to the Amherst Ramblers on Thanksgiving Monday at Amherst Stadium in Amherst, Nova Scotia.

After being held off the scoreboard in Saturday’s matchup in Summerside, Amherst found its scoring touch early in this one, with Elliott Duval opening the scoring just 1:33 into the first period to give the Ramblers a 1-0 lead.

Summerside responded 41 seconds into the second period on the power play. From the point, Justin Ouellette ripped a one-time feed from Lincoln Waugh, and Lane Sim deflected the puck past Amherst goaltender Brandon Lavoie from the low slot to tie the game 1-1.

The tie didn’t last long, however. Minutes later, the Ramblers capitalized twice on the power play following a high-sticking penalty against Matthew Andersen and a fight between Andersen and Amherst’s Christian White.

Coen Miller buried a rebound on the five-on-three at 5:59, and Jonathan Lau finished a play from the low slot on the ensuing five-on-four at 6:55 to put Amherst ahead 3-1.

The Western Capitals cut the deficit back to one at 15:41, when Matthew MacLean sent Declan MacLauchlan on a breakaway with a pass through traffic from the Summerside zone. MacLauchlan fired the puck past Lavoie’s glove to make it 3-2.

Summerside pushed hard in the third period, outshooting Amherst 19-6, but the Ramblers held their lead before Miller added his second goal into the empty net at 19:20 to secure the 4-2 victory.

The Western Capitals went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Ramblers converted twice on six opportunities. Max Picard made 30 saves for Summerside, while Lavoie stopped 37 shots for Amherst.

The result split the home-and-home series after Summerside’s 1-0 win on Saturday. Both teams are now tied for third in the Eastlink South Division with 10 points each. Summerside holds a 5-4 record with two games in hand, while Amherst sits at 4-5-1-1.

The Western Capitals return home on Saturday, October 17, to host the West Kent Steamers at Credit Union Place. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets are available at www.creditunionplace.ca.