By Rachel Williams
The Dunlop Fuels and Rintoul’s Pool and Spas
Atom girls came away with a 3-3 tie in a nail biter against the Durham Huskies
on Friday January 7th at the Plex.
From the puck drop in the first period until the final buzzer to end the third, the Saugeen Shores Atom girls and Durham Huskies provided the spectators with an entertaining game of non-stop, end-to-end hockey.
Alyssa Trumbley was tested early in net for Saugeen Shores on a Durham breakaway just 2 minutes into the game. Trumbley made a lovely pad save to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard.
Offensive pressure in the Durham end produced scoring opportunities for the Storm. Line mates Tori Janes, Jamie Miller and Kaitlin Ferguson, backed by defensive pairing Drew Besito and Marley Scott, put in a strong shift part way through the first culminating with a blast on net by Janes. A quick save by the skilled Durham goalie kept the game scoreless.
Trumbley continued to play strongly throughout the period making stick, glove and pad saves. However, with less than two minutes remaining in the first a Husky forward split the defence and picked the left corner of the net to take the lead by one.
Durham continued to press. With less than 60 seconds on the clock, the Huskies had another breakaway chance. This one was stopped on a nice stick check by forward Eve Martin who hustled back to help out the defence. On the same shift, Martin skated the puck into the Husky’s zone and released a lightning shot on net, but a stick save by the goalie kept the Storm off the scoreboard.
The Storm had a strong start in the second period. Rachel Kelly and Janelle Fowler played well in their own end feeding the puck up ice to the forwards. This produced a couple of breakaway chances by Amber Hou and Tori Sutter-Lammie but still the Storm could not convert shots into goals.
At 10:32 in the second, Sasha Morano picked up a nice pass from Carly Acton. Morano worked her way from one side of the net, around the players in the slot, to the other side of the net where she proceeded to stuff the puck in stick side to tie the game 1-1.
On a breakaway less than 30 seconds later, Sutter-Lammie picked the corner of the Durham goal to give Saugeen Shores the lead.
Durham responded quickly with a goal of its own. Nineteen seconds after Sutter-Lammie’s point, Durham slipped the puck past the Storm net minder to tie the game at two apiece.
Saugeen Shores had not finished scoring in the second. Another strong shift by Janes, Miller and Ferguson produced a shot on goal by Janes who picked up her own rebound and put the puck in the net stick side. Once again, the Storm led by a single goal.
Both sides kept up the offensive pressure. With 5 minutes remaining Sutter-Lammie skated the puck up the right side of the ice with line mates Victoria Matheson and Amber Hou trailing on the play. Sutter-Lammie flipped a nice pass to her wingers, but the resulting shot went wide.
Tiffany Kewageshig took over goalie duties from Trumbley half way through the second. She, too, made some great saves including a spectacular pad save on a breakaway shot. However, with 1:53 left in the second, Durham found a way around Kewageshig putting the puck past her on a scramble in front of the net. At the end of the second the game was tied 3-3.
Back and forth play continued into the third with both teams exchanging scoring chances. Ainsley Harron and Lauren MacDonald played a strong third period stripping the puck from charging Durham forwards and using the boards to pass the puck up ice to awaiting teammates. Kewageshig denied all advances by the Durham squad and remained solid in net. All three forward lines worked tirelessly to move the puck out of their own zone and to create goal scoring chances in the Durham end.
After a hard fought game, the final score remained 3-3. Both Kewagshig and Trumbley were awarded Player of the Game by the Saugeen Shores coaching staff for their outstanding play in net.
The following day, the Dunlop Fuels and Rintoul’s Pool and Spas Atom girls faced Georgian Shores in Thornbury . The team logged their second tie of the weekend finishing with a final 1-1 score. The lone Saugeen Shores goal was scored by Eve Martin.
The Atom girls play next on Wednesday January 12th in Walkerton.