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It was a weekend of lessons learned for the Markham Royals, as the team was defeated in a pair of games against the North York Rangers on Friday and the Wellington Dukes on Sunday.
Friday’s home opener opened up with no shortage of festivity as this year’s team introduced themselves to the Royals fanbase and celebrated their longest-serving billet host ahead of the opening puck drop. Once the puck dropped, Markham controlled the lion’s share of the ice for most of the game but didn’t have the results go their way. Two first-period goals from the Rangers proved to be a formidable buffer for the opponents. William Godfrey and Charlie Nolette each brought the Royals with a goal in the second and third periods, but both were met with response tallies.
North York widened their lead to three with thirteen minutes to go. Godfrey initiated one last push to close the gap with eight minutes remaining, but to no avail, as the Rangers skated away with a 5-3 result.
Sunday saw the Royals make the long bus trip to Prince Edward County, where they took on the Wellington Dukes. Special teams proved to be a major difference maker in this game, as the Dukes were 2-for-7 on the powerplay with an additional shorthanded tally en route to an 8-1 final scorer. Julian Mandarino was the lone goal scorer for Markham, cleaning up a play started by Nicholas Ferrante.
The Royals will practice throughout the week before aiming to get into the win column against the Pickering Panthers on Friday night. That game will be played at Markham Centennial Arena.
