STRATHROY, ONT. — The Listowel Cyclones erased an early two-goal deficit but were unable to complete the comeback Saturday, September 19, falling 6–3 to the Strathroy Rockets.
Lyndon Cabral, Heath Bradley and Clark deBoer supplied the offence for Listowel, while Logan MacMillan stopped 28 of 34 shots. After battling back to draw even early in the second period, the Cyclones surrendered three consecutive goals as Strathroy pulled ahead.
The Rockets opened the scoring at 5:57 of the first period and doubled their lead at 11:47. Listowel answered just 39 seconds later.
Cabral scored his first goal of the season at 12:26, with Dax Vader collecting the assist, to cut the deficit to 2–1 heading into the first intermission.
The Cyclones completed their comeback at 4:27 of the second period when Bradley scored his second of the season. Shayne Keefe and Grayden McKnight earned the assists as Listowel brought the teams level at 2–2.
Strathroy regained the lead at 10:31, sending the Cyclones into the final period trailing by one.
The Rockets extended their advantage at 5:06 of the third, then added another at 10:11 to make it 5–2.
Listowel narrowed the gap with 4:26 remaining. DeBoer converted on the power play for his second goal of the season, with Ryan Cranny and Aidan Renaud drawing the assists, bringing the Cyclones within two.
Strathroy responded 53 seconds later, scoring at 16:27 to establish the 6–3 final.
For Listowel, the opening-period response and early second-period equalizer provided a foundation, but the Cyclones could not find another tying goal before the Rockets widened the margin in the third.
The opportunity to respond comes Friday, September 25, for a 7:30 puck drop. The Cyclones welcome the Rockets to the Steve Kerr Memorial Arena. With the rematch shifting to Listowel, the Cyclones will look to turn the page on Saturday’s result and answer on home ice.
-Listowel Cyclones Hockey Club
