The
Saugeen Shores Novice B Storm played their first game of the second round of
the WOAA playoffs on Wednesday, February 4th at the Plex against
league rival, Kincardine Kinucks.
Play was equally matched during the first minutes of the opening period, with both teams playing hard, fast hockey. At the seven minute mark, the Kinuck’s top scorer took advantage of a misplayed puck by the Storm, rushing the net to score for Kincardine. Despite several sound scoring attempts by the Storm, including one, just-out-of-time, shot by Luke Thornley, that beat the Kinucks’ goalie, the Storm were unable to even up the score heading into the second period.
Both teams received minor infractions, as play became increasingly rough during the second period. Forwards, Malachi McKinnon and Will Nason, worked hard all period, digging the puck out of the corners and making scrappy scoring attempts in front of Kincardine’s net. Storm fans were bitterly disappointed at the end of the period when, what looked like a Storm goal from the stands, was disallowed with a quick whistle. The period finished with Kincardine still ahead by one goal.
Less than a minute into the third period, Kincardine took advantage of a delayed whistle after a shot on net, hacking in their second goal of the game. A minute later, after a turn-over in the neutral zone, Kincardine scored their third and final goal. At the nine minute mark, defenseman Austin Dunlop carried the puck into the Kinucks’ end, riffling a shot on net. Luke Thornley was ready, in front of Kincardine’s net, and was able to score for Saugeen Shores on the rebound. Despite being able to kill a penalty late in the period, the Storm were still down by two goals, with time running out. With two minutes left in the game, the Storm pulled their goalie, Lucas McCullough, in order to give them an extra player on the ice. Unfortunately, Saugeen Shores was unable to use the extra man to their advantage, and the game ended as a 1-3 loss for the Storm.
The Storm now head to Mitchell, on Saturday, March 7th, to meet the Meteors in game two of their round robin series. Go Storm!