Chatham Maroons Eliminated on Last Minute Goal

Collin Cloutier blocks a shot - Photo by Ian Kennedy

After building a 3-1 lead, the Chatham Maroons experienced their second late game collapse in as many nights at the hands of the Strathroy Rockets. Sunday at Chatham Memorial Arena, the Maroons were eliminated from the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League playoffs after falling 4-3 to the Strathroy Rockets in game 6 of their best of seven series.

Tyler Duarte opened the scoring for Strathroy, but Chatham answered back strong in the first period with goals from Sean Myers, Evan Makaric, and Mike Rivard. Unfortunately, these first period goals would be the only offense Chatham could mount.

Goaltender Connor MacKinnon did everything he could to keep his team in the game, stopping 56 of the 60 shots he faced. Mitch McNeill and Craig Campbell closed the gap for the Strathroy Rockets, before Alex Avery capped off their comeback with 59-seconds left in the game.

As the seconds ticked down, the nearly 1000 fans in Memorial Arena urged their team on, but it wasn’t enough as Chatham lost 4-3 to end their season.