Game # 10 - Terry's Independent Tyke Select vs. Barrie on Feb. 11th, 2017
On Saturday,
February 11th, the team headed to the Allandale arena to face off
against a Barrie Tyke Select Team. This
was the first time that we played this Barrie team, who is part of the York
Simcoe league and competes against other teams such as Richmond Hill and Aurora. Given the calibre of teams that Barrie is
usually up against, our team, practically speaking, was a bit of an underdog
heading into this game.
However, right out of the gate, our team came out strong. Within the first minute of play, Mason W. made a solid high shot on net, which deflected just off the crossbar…it was oh so close! For the next few minutes, Jack G. and Hudson W. were instrumental in keeping the puck in their end, while our offensive lines took shot after shot. Jack McG. had a breakaway and shot on net. Then, at 6:47, Mason W., after picking up the puck from Joshua D. at the red line, swooped in and scored the first goal of the game to take the earlier lead. Mid-way through the first period, Hudson W. also had a fast breakaway and Phenix C. had a strong shot on net; Colton H. was on the hustle, chasing down the Barrie players and doing a great job banging the puck back into their end to keep the play up there. However, Barrie didn’t take being down by one goal lightly, and at 3:38, rebounded with their first goal of the night to tie up the game. Not to be outdone, at 3:05, Mason W. with a great backhanded shot, potted in his second goal of the game, assisted by Evan A. to once again take the lead by one for a score of 2 -1 Hudson W., as well as Evan A. took some hard shots on net. In addition, Jack McG. and Wyatt G. were unstoppable, chasing every Barrie player and thwarting the Barrie defense. To end the period, our goalie, Ollie H. who was on his game throughout this period, made two back-to-back phenomenal saves to protect our valuable one goal lead.
The second period saw exciting hockey with neither side wanting to give in. Grayden Z. had a great scoring opportunity followed by Mason W., who continued to pitch solid shots on net. Oliver A. was unstoppable, chasing down every Barrie player who had the puck. Hudson W. made a solid pass from around our net to Phenix C., who carried it up the ice to make another solid shot on net. At 6 minutes in, Ollie H. saved another potential goal, when the puck deflected off his pads. Then Mason W. picked up the puck and deked down the ice, for another strong shot on net. Continuing mid-way through the second period, both teams were still fighting hard. During that time, our offensive lines were extremely strong, with lots of passing back and forth depending on who had the best shot on net. However with only 2:48 left to go, Barrie once again shifted into high gear and scored their second goal of the night to tie the game up at 2- 2. In these last two minutes, our whole team kicked up the defence, in particular, Hudson W., Jack G. and Jack McG, thwarted their offense at every turn. Joshua D. slammed the puck back into their end and then Ollie H. took a hit but kept the puck out and to end the second period tied 2 – 2.
Similarly, in the first half of the third period, we saw fierce hockey. Wyatt G. was instrumental in keeping the puck from penetrating our blue line. He fought for it in a scrum and punched it out to Jack G., who made a great pass to Mason W. for the shot on net. Oliver A. made a nice pass down the ice to carry the puck out of our end and Colton H. continued to chase for the puck. Our goalie for the third period, Kallum G. had a great deflection and a fantastic save, to keep any potential shots from scoring. Then, at just under the ½ way mark, Joshua D. muscled the puck out of the hands of Barrie in the corner, where Jack McG. picked it up and, on a breakaway, scored a crucial goal at 4:41, to break the tie and take the lead by 1. Phenix C. was also credited with an assist on this goal. Hudson W. and Jack G. were strong defensively throughout this game and had many steals from Barrie players. Less than 20 seconds later, Mason W. followed, hit the puck high into the net and slammed in his third goal of the night, assisted by Wyatt G. and Grayden Z, to widen our lead to 4-2. Finally, with only 2:47 left to play, Mason, assisted by Wyatt G. and Evan A. catapulted in the final goal of the period to cement our win with a final score of 5 – 2.
Our team played a phenomenal game of hockey tonight. It was absolutely the case where playing against an unknown team brought out the best in each and every player. They all worked hard, despite the predictions of some and never gave up. They each gave it their all; worked seamlessly as a team and they should all be very proud of the way that they played tonight. Congratulations on playing one amazing game!!!!