Feb 20, 2016 | Ryan Stewart | 751 views
Playoff Game #4, February 20
I woke up this morning and looked out the window....the sun was shining and it was a beautiful mild February Saturday morning. It's the weekend, I didn't have to go to work and we have another playoff game against the tough Strathroy Blue squad. I thought to myself, this is as good as it gets! Parents should make sure they enjoy the time at the arena because the kids grow up way too fast! Anybody interested in hearing what happened during the game? If yes, all you have to do is click....
This playoff game is our shot at making it into the finals against Point Edward. All we have to do is beat these guys......sure, easier said than done!
Early in the game Strathroy came on hard but Ben played solid making some great saves. After 2 minutes and 53 seconds of play the good guys opened the scoring after Denny rushed the puck and got a great shot off. Jacob Molnar was there to bang in the rebound after a squirmish in front of the net. Wow, our team started by scoring fiirst....what next? About 4 minutes later Strathroy managed to get the equalizer then about a minute and a half later they scored again making it 2-1. As the first period ended Coach Ryan reassured the kids all is good but we need to get our feet moving better and get more scoring opportunities.
Early in the 2nd period Strathroy managed to get another one on us, the pressure was now on to narrow the gap. Our kids gave it all they had and didn't give up. We were getting stopped by exceptional play by the Strathroy goalie and some solid defensive play by our opponent. We just couldn't get a bounce to go our way and the puck did not find a way over the goal line.
The 3rd period started and we kept trying hard but no dice. The clock was ticking and the game was a bit slow to get started so the curfew time was starting to become a factor. Coach Ryan was well aware we needed to win this game, a tie didn't matter so with about 7 and a half minutes left on the clock Coach Ryan pulled Ben and opted for the extra skater. I thought that was a great move given the dire circumstances. The kids pressed as hard as they possibly could and kept the play in the offensive zone for the next 5-6 minutes until the curfew buzzer sounded.
Congratulations to Strathroy for the victory and good luck in the final against Point Edward.
Our team came up a bit short today, that is the way it goes in this great sport. Enjoying the wins and learning how to deal with the losses is all part for the game. Each and every player on our team contributed to the successes we have seen this season. The fact that we finished near the top of the league after the regular season and being included in the Atom "A" division playoff series is something to be very proud of. Nobody should be upset with our loss today! Everybody did their best so hold your head high and be proud of your great accomplishments this year.
Don't forget, we still have ice time coming until the end of March. Hopefully we can set up a few exhibition games and have lots of fun yet before the season ends. Parents keep an eye on the schedule, as teams get knocked out hopefully more ice time will be made available. See everyone at practice tomorrow night.
Coach Pat