Storm#3 faced off against The Lakers#2 on Wednesday night in an excellent matchup. These two teams came ready to play and what a game it was. The Storm came out on top and this win moved them into the WOAA Novice LL North Division Championship Final.
This game started off with some great work by both teams but it was The Lakers who struck first by netting a marker at 6:13 of the period.
The Storm never gave up and kept battling hard for loose pucks and we saw “The Hound Dog”, Andy and Sabra all make some great moves skating with the puck, digging along the boards and helping get the puck out of our end.
Our defensemen of Zach, Devin, Nick and Brennan were amazing with holding the blue line and looking for the players sneaking behind them as well as getting out of our end with the puck.
They were also fantastic at catching The Lakers players when they got around them and getting the puck off the opponents stick when they where on breaks.
Our Centers, Jack and Caleb, were awesome at creating scoring chances helping move the puck out of our end and getting back to help out every time.
All this work paid off when Jack tied up the score with 1:01 left to go in the period and we ended the first tied one all.
The Lakers got a quick jump on us in the second taking the lead at 8:36 of the period despite all our great efforts. Then at 4:08 Jack once again tied it up with a nice shot right through the Lakers goaltenders legs. The Storm continued to work the puck as it moved up and down the ice but the score remained tied at 2 a piece at the end of the second.
With the crowd cheering loud in his fantastic matchup between two great teams, The Storm took the lead for the first time in this game with another beauty goal from Jack as he lifted and hard wrist shot into the net that hit the inside of each post before ending up in the back of the net to complete the hat trick. Those Lakers are a tough team and came back to tie it up at 7:20 but the fans cheering just got the The Storm even more pumped and Jack again for his fourth of the game, scored at 6:55 to put his team in the lead again. We saw some great goaltending from Talan as well; we saw some amazing butterfly and kick saves and covering the puck up for a whistle when his team needed it. But the play of the night was the prettiest goal of the season maybe as Jack and Caleb were on a 2 on 1 and as they approached the net Jack slid a beauty pass over to Caleb who had the whole net to tuck her home and the score was a 5-3 decision for The Storm.
This was a fantastic game by all players and the second great game of the week. The coaches are very proud of everyone and would like to congratulate them on making it to the WOAA Novice LL North Division Championship Final. We are one of only a few teams in the SSMHA that have made it this far in playoffs.
The digger Award was handed to Jack without question for his 5 point night and great two way play.
This has been such a great Team so far, the players have really come a long way since our first practice and I hope they are not only proud of themselves but also hungry to face <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Owen Sound in the Final for the Championship.
Next Practice Tues 5-6 at The Plex. I will let everyone know, as soon as I know, about the Finals and when the game(s) are.