Dec 20, 2018 | Mark Emerick | 224 views
Game 13
We are back to the regular season and hosted the Aylmer Flames Black team tonight in Mount Brydges. This game would be the shortest bench we have experienced so far this season with 7 kids out of the lineup. That leaves 7 skaters and Watsy between the pipes, this should be an interesting write-up......
Yup, our end of the ice looked quite empty during warm-up with just 7 fearless Goldiggers shooting on Ben. When the game started we coaches were feeling overwhelmed on the bench with just 4 coaches managing the two spare skaters on the bench, 1 at each door. We were really missing our fantastic assistant coach/trainer Daniel Gregory who couldn't make it tonight. Dan has been a great help at practices and on the bench so far this season and rumour has it he reads the write-ups so I really couldn't resist taking this jab ;-). We missed you tonight Dan!!
The game plan tonight was to play smart, pass the puck and conserve energy. Coach Mark stressed this in the dressing room before the game. If we come out flying and go end to end too much early, there would certainly be no gas left in the tank later in the game. Passing the puck and just smart play would be a key to surviving for 3 periods.
Aylmer was first to score at the 8:42 mark of the 2nd period after a hard shot that Ben really didn't have much chance on. We stayed in the game and continued the conservative play. Ben made some key saves to keep it a 1 goal game and the kids we had in the lineup were working their butts off every shift. The rest periods were very short between shifts with just one spare skater at each door but everyone dug deep and persevered under difficult circumstances.
The game went deep into the 3rd period with the Aylmer team up by one goal. As the clock ticked down, we started turning it up a bit burning the remaining gas left in the tank hoping to find enough energy to put one in the net. This effort paid off with just 2:06 left to play when Craig Kopal scored after a scramble in front, assisted by Colton Cordeiro and Lynden Luis. We tied it up and the game would end that way. Congratulations goes out to all 7 skaters: Craig Kopal, Colton Wilson, Lynden Luis, Cole Haywood, Colton Cordeiro, Paolo Casavecchia, Jackson Emerick and our goalie Ben Watson. You guys really played as a team with heart and hustle tonight!! The coaching staff is very proud of the extraordinary effort and team play tonight. Great job everyone, a job well done!
GO COUGARS GO!
Trainer Pat