Sports
November 22, 2008 12:01 AM
Mike Hayakawa
In most of its Ontario Junior Hockey League games, the Stouffville Spirit has stayed in contention thanks to solid work in its own end.
Ten of their first 19 losses this season were by one goal.
But Thursday against the Markham Waxers, the back end had an off night as the Spirit suffered its 12th straight loss, 9-2 at the Stouffville Arena.
It’s a disturbing trend. The Spirit has been outscored 39-11 in its last six games. They are 3-25 and in last place in the Central Division.
In front of 178 fans Thursday, Craig McDowell and Matt McCann scored for the Spirit, which trailed 4-1 after one period and 8-1 through two.
Kori Coelho and Michael D’Angelo played musical goaltenders for the Spirit during the night.
“For most of the year, our goaltending and defence have been our saviour,” said Spirit general manager and head coach Mark Joslin. “But they were awful. We tried to do too much at the back end. Our defence made the wrong decisions and didn’t get the saves when we needed it.”
The Spirit is at Newmarket Sunday at 3:30 p.m. and hosts St. Michael’s Thursday.