ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- The Pirates cranked out a pair of wins in Day 2 of the Tim Alexander Memorial Tournament on Saturday. Rocky River defeated the Cleveland Wildcats 5-1 in a morning opener and Team Ohio 3-0 in an evening nightcap. With the twin wins at Hamilton Ice Arena, the Hilliard Boulevard Buccaneers head into a Sunday finale with a tournament mark of 3-0.

The Pirates (3-2) outshot the Wildcats 29-14 in Saturday's first game. The Double-R would get two goals apiece from Alex Parnell and Grayson Hess as part of a comeback from an early 1-0 deficit. Rocky River scored three of its goals in the third period.

Against Team Ohio, Niko Rose would face just nine shots in a wire-to-wire Raider triumph. But many of Rose's stops were in a tied or leading-by-one situation: the contest was a scoreless one until Hess planted his fourth of the season with 66 seconds remaining in the second period.

Over the two games against club foes, Hess had three goals. Parnell tallied two goals and two assists. The senior captain's first goal of the day marked the 20th of his career. Through Saturday, Parnell is Rocky River's active leader in points scored, with 48.

Lucas Opdycke logged two goals and three assists. Opdycke's second netfinder came on a River power play. For the day, the Pirate man advantage went 2-for-2, and the Sons of Blackbeard have now scored a power-play goal in four consecutive games.

Owen Toole registered three assists on Saturday. He totes a four-game point streak into Sunday's tournament finale.

That final game will be against Avon at 10:15 a.m. Sunday morning.



CANNON FIRE ...

RR PK A-OK: River killed off 4-of-4 power plays Saturday, nixing two in each game. Through five games, the Pirates have killed 10-of-12 penalties (83.3%).

ACTION JACKSON(S): Senior Jackson Herrmann scored the third goal in Saturday's nightcap. Sophomore Jacob Jackson logged an assist in Saturday's opener. Both marked first career points.

by Skip Snow

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