The Royals capped off 2022 with a road game Dec 30th in Port Elgin that felt like a continuation of last years AA quarterfinal matchup.
Scoring got underway halfway through the first with Saugeen being the first to crack the stalemate at 8:53 with a goal from Matt Shields. It was #44 Callan Christner from #18 Trevor Sauder that answered for the Royals with 2:30 to go to leave us tied 1-1 after the 1st period.
Saugeen pulled ahead 3-1 in the 2nd, but a late goal from #18 Trevor Sauder (assisted by Callan Christner and Collin Hartwick) got the Royals within a goal after 2 periods.
3rd period scoring was all Royals, with both team trading several penalties.
The tying goal came from #9 Collin Hartwick (assisted by #5 Geoff Killing) at 7:36 with #15 Matt Zilke (assisted by #25 Jeremy Munro and #8 Mike Noyes) giving the Royals their first lead of the game at short time later at 7:09. With an open net and 6 seconds to go #15 Matt Zilke put the exclamation point on his return to the lineup with an empty net goal to earn the Royals a 5-3 win on the road in a game that had all the feelings of playoff hockey in front of a large crowd in Port Elgin. #30 Jensen van Boekel picked up the win, standing tall facing 23 shots from a talented Saugeen team.
The Royals improve to 8-5-1 and move into 5th place.
The Royals return to the ice Sat January 7th at home for a rare matchup vs. Shallow Lake.