Hounds bullied by Belleville

BELLEVILLE -- Just 24 hours after a solid effort against the Mississauga IceDogs in Mississauga, the Soo Greyhounds traveled up the 401 and lost it on their way to Belleville.

A solid effort for the most part on Friday earned the Greyhounds a 4-3 victory in overtime, but that effort was lacking in a 4-1 loss to the Bulls on Saturday.

In what has been the story all season long, a slow start and a lack of work ethic led to the Greyhounds' 13th loss of the season. The Hounds fell behind 2-0 less than seven minutes into the game and could not recover.

In the first period, Matt Kelly got the Bulls on the board with a power play goal at 4:20. Under two minutes later Bryan Cameron put the Bulls ahead 2-0. In an interesting note, the Cameron goal was the 7,000 in the franchise's 25-year existence.

Matt Beleskey sent the game into the first intermission with the Bulls ahead by three. The Beleskey goal came just as a Greyhounds penalty was expiring.

Just 56 seconds into the second period, Beleskey scored his second goal of the evening. Shortly after the goal, the Bulls lost the services of forward Ryan Rorabeck to an arm injury. Rorabeck has a history of shoulder problems this season having already missed time.

The Bulls also lost the services of Nick Pageau after former Bull Cody Thornton hit him hard. The veteran Hound forward was making his first appearance in Belleville since being traded to the Greyhounds during the summer.

Chris Lawrence got the Greyhounds on the board late in the third but they could not mount any sort of momentum as the game finished in a 4-1 Bulls win.

"Right from the start we didn't have near enough passion or competitiveness in our game," said Hounds coach Craig Hartsburg. "Early in the game (Belleville) won all of the loose puck battles. There's no excuse. We talked about being ready and you go through all the right things but it comes down to the guys having to be ready themselves.

"We got down early and he battled to try to keep us in the hockey game," Hartsburg said of Hounds netminder Matt Hache. "I don't have to look back if he had much of a chance on any of them. Maybe one he would like to have back. He had to be sharp to keep us in the hockey game."

Prior to the game the Bulls honoured a former player as a ceremony was held in memory of Jake Gilmour. Gilmour died earlier in the week at his parents home. The 21-year-old spent parts of three seasons with the Bulls before a back injury cut his career short last season. The Bulls will honour Gilmour by wearing his number and name in a patch on their jersey.

The Hounds finish off their road trip with a 6 p.m. start in Oshawa where they face the Generals.

After returning home from their three game Eastern Conference swing, the Hounds will find themselves playing three games in four nights on home ice.

On Wednesday, they face the Sudbury Wolves in a 7 p.m. start while on Friday the Plymouth Whalers are in town for a 7:30 p.m. start. On Saturday, the Hounds wrap up the stand with a battle against the Guelph Storm in another 7:30 p.m. start.

*** AROUND THE OHL:

AT WINDSOR: Cory Vitarelli had a pair of goals while Scott Lavigne and Jeff Larsh each had a goal and an assist as Toronto St. Michael's defeated the Windsor Spitfires 5-2. Cal O'Reilly had a goal and an assist in the loss.

AT SAGINAW: Patrick Asselin had a pair of goals to lead the Saginaw Spirit to a 5-2 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs. Jesse Gimblett, Matt Corrente, and Jack Combs each had two assists.

AT BARRIE: Hunter Tremblay had two goals while Mike Roelofsen had a goal and assist as the Barrie Colts defeated the Oshawa Generals 5-2. Bryan Little had a pair of assists in the victory. Peter Tsimikalis scored both Oshawa goals.

AT ERIE: Dylan Hunter had a second period goal that turned out to be the game-winner to lead the London Knights to a 3-2 win over the Erie Otters.

AT GUELPH: Chris Hulit had a goal and three assists to lead the Ottawa 67's to a 5-3 victory over the Guelph Storm. Bryan Bickell chipped in with two goals and an assist while Robbie Lawrance and Julian Talbot each added two assists. Andy Hyverinen had a goal and an assist for the Storm.

AT OWEN SOUND: The Peterborough Petes got goals from seven different players en route to a 7-1 victory over the Owen Sound Attack. Trevor Hendrikx, Jordan Staal, Scott Cowie, Greg Stewart, Justin Caruana, Daniel Ryder, and Jamie Tardif scored for the Petes.

AT PLYMOUTH: Wojtek Wolski and Howie Martin scored in a shootout to give the Brampton Battalion a 3-2 victory over the Plymouth Whalers. Gino Pisellini had a goal and an assist for the Whalers.

AT SARNIA: Patrick Davis scored three times to lead the Kitchener Rangers to an 8-1 victory. Jakub Kindl had a goal and three assists while Matt Auffrey had a pair of assists.