In December we played a couple of home and home series vs Petrolia and St Clair Shores. First we travelled to Petrolia with a short bench. We traded chances for the first 2 periods and ended the 2nd in a scoreless tie.
In the 3
rd we had a 2 man advantage but couldn’t capitalize. Shortly after they got a pp and did manage to score. Then Katie Rowe sprang Courtney Dani for a great breakaway chance but unfortunately their goalie stood tall. As the period wore on we seemed to run out of gas. They added another and we came up short losing 2-0. The next day we took the long drive to Mooretown. Natalie Catlos made some terrific saves early as we again were deadlocked 0-0 after 2. Then in the first minute of the 3
rd they scored. Shaina Stubbs played a strong game on D breaking up a 2 on 1 to keep it close. This was a chippy, dirty team so we really didn’t want to let them win. We pulled our goalie with 1:45 left and then with 13 seconds on the clock Sam McNeil blasted one from the point that found its way into the net. So we escaped with the 1-1 tie. Pheww! A couple of days later we had a rematch in Komoka. Our scoring woes continued as we again headed into the 3
rd scoreless. This team took a lot of penalties and we even had a 4 minute 5 on 3, but we just couldn’t make them pay. Unfortunately they did score on a last minute pp making this a real heartbreaking loss. Our last game of 2011 was at home vs Petrolia. We broke the trend in this one as we scored in the 2
nd when Melanie Poirier banged in a rebound off a Taylor McTaggart shot. In the 3
rd we traded penalties and with 3:45 left they tied it. Courtney Dani had a great chance in the dying seconds but just missed, so we were forced to settle for another 1-1 tie. Early in January we hosted Parkhill. In the 1
st Nicole Westgate slapped one in from the point that bounced to Savannah Black who smacked it in to get us on the board. In period 2, we were fortunate as Parkhill hit the post. Then Amberley Holman carried the puck from centre down the wing and ripped one home to put us up by 2. With 30 seconds left in the 2
nd Nat made a huge point blank save to preserve the 2-0 lead. Early in the 3
rd Katie broke free on a breakaway but couldn’t cash in. Shortly after Savannah scored her second of the game to make 3-0. Katie had another breakaway chance and Mackenzie Van Hoof missed a glorious chance in the dying seconds, but it didn’t matter as we were very happy to come away with the 3-0 win. A week later we hosted the always tough Ilderton. The 1
st period was fairly even ending scoreless as we had our chances and Natalie was very solid in net. Unfortunately they were able to score one early in the 2
nd. Then Melanie had a spectacular rush, splitting the D, but was robbed. Shortly after we got hemmed in our own zone and they scored another. Late in the period Taylor scored one off a scramble but the referee waved it off claiming he had blown his whistle. Boo!! We kept battling in the 3
rd but our scoring jinx continued. We got a 4 minute pp followed by a 2 man advantage, AND we pulled our goalie but still couldn’t manage to put it in the net, so we lost 2-0. A couple of days later we were on the road again to Parkhill. We got into some penalty trouble early in this one, but thanks to Nat were able to hold them off. After 2 periods the score was (you guessed it) 0-0. We took another penalty early in the 3
rd and they scored. Fortunately minutes later Kelcey Lucio’s howitzer shot tied things up. With 2 minutes left we took a penalty, but luckily they took one right after making it a 4 on 4. Then with 30 seconds left Sam scored a beauty to give us a 2-1 victory! Next was a home and home vs Lakeshore. First we drove a very long way to play in one of the crappiest arenas on earth. We played hard generating some good chances and Nat was her usual stellar self in net. But they kept coming and they eventually wore us down winning 3-0. The next day we had a rematch in Strathroy, but we didn’t fair much better against this strong double B team as well fell 5-0 on this night. Our next game was against Lambeth. We got off to a great start in this one as Taylor brought the puck out from behind their net and lifted home a sweet backhander. Later in the period Kelcey’s hard wrister from the point deflected in off the goalie’s glove to put up by 2. They got one back early in the 2
nd, but we continued to press. Amberley, Melanie, and Taylor generated some good chances off the cycle in the dying seconds, but the period ended with us holding on to the 2-1 lead. In the 3
rd Taylor scored her second of the night with an awesome one-timer off a perfect pass by Melanie. Then Megan McGill sealed the deal with nice low shot from the slot to finish them off 4-1. Our last game of the month was up in Lucan. This is one of teams we will soon be facing in the Provincials. We played a fairly even 1
st period but fell behind 1-0 late. We had a flurry of chances in the 2
nd including a breakaway opportunity by Kelcey, but we just couldn’t finish. They however did score their second in the last minute of the period. Early in the 3
rd Courtney Van Dyk had a phenomenal chance all alone in the slot, but again we came up an inch short. They scored a couple more including an empty netter. We ended up losing 5-0 which was disappointing as the score was truly not indicative of the way we played. So we hit a bit of a tough stretch these last two months. We played against some strong teams as we posted a record of 3-6-2. In February we look forward to the International Silverstick Tournament in Sarnia and the start of the Provincials. Good luck girls!!
Rob Black