Despite a valiant effort, four Muskoka players with the Penetang Kings Jr. C hockey club came short of capturing the team’s third straight league championship and chance to defend the all-Ontario championship they had won the previous two years.

Goalie Corey Moore of Utterson, forward Ricky Greenslade of Bracebridge, defenceman Shayne Wright and forward Adam Heskamp of Gravenhurst helped the Kings to a 35-6-0-1 season that ended four points behind the first-place Alliston Hornets.

The first round of playoffs saw Penetang beat Schomberg in four games and win the next series against Fergus 4-2, before taking on Alliston in the Georgian Bay Mid-Ontario League championship finals.

The Kings came out strong in the first game, but lost four straight to Alliston after getting into some penalty trouble in the rest of the series.

In his first year with the team, Moore played 900 minutes between the pipes, recording an astonishing 14 wins and one loss with a goal-against average of 1.93 and one shutout.

He reeled off six straight wins to start the year before losing his first game, a 5-3 defeat to Erin.

The 18-year-old also recorded two wins in the playoffs, allowing four goals in the process. He appeared in one game with the Huntsville Muskoka Otters last season.