On Saturday, February 11th, the
team played our last game of the regular season against our very own Middaugh
Masonry. This would be the 4th
time that we have played against Middaugh Masonry. We
captured victories in the three previous games against Middaugh, could the
winning streak continue?
For the first half of the first period, each
team played well and held their own.
Corbin H. in goal, made a couple of great saves right off the bat, one
in particular in the midst of Middaugh attempting to cash in on a “garbage
goal” that he was successful in thwarting.
Ben W. made some great offensive shots and Paige O. and Daichi McE. made some solid passes to move the puck along in their end. However, in the last half of the first period, Middaugh got the upper hand when they scored three goals back to back to back. So, going into the final two minutes of play in the period, we were down by three. This reality kicked our team into overdrive and they started playing harder and even more determined. Chase R. made some great passes and had a breakaway that gave him a solid shot on net. Then, with only 1:56 left to play, Mason W. slammed in our first goal of the day, to put us on the scoreboard and to end the first period down by two, with a score of 3 – 1.
The second period started and like the first period, the first ½ of this period was fairly even. Both sides were determined not to give an inch. Beckett R. and Helmut A. skated strongly throughout their shifts and broke up several Middaugh offensive threats. Colton B. continued to show solid defensive savvy, positioning himself well against oncoming players and swatting pucks out of his own end with precision. Wyatt G. stole the puck and passed it to Mason W., who got in a good shot on net. Wyatt G. followed up by making a great block to protect our net from a strong scoring potential. Ben W. and Lincoln W. were all over Middaugh, stealing the puck and keeping it out of our end. Grayden Z. had a nice breakaway and solid shot on net. Joshua D. won the face-off and deked past a couple of Middaugh players to dump it in their end. Ben W. hustled, once again, to protect our net and even though the shot went through, Corbin H. made a great save to stop the score from advancing. However, despite our best efforts, at 4:50, Middaugh posted their next goal, to up their lead by 3. However, our team didn’t give up and stop trying. Instead, they forged on, more determined than ever to keep on playing. Their perseverance paid off as at 4:23, Mason W. scored his second goal of the game, and then, only 10 seconds later, made another amazing goal to put us back in the game, as the score shot up to 4 – 3, with us now only trailing by one. This seemed to spur the whole team on. Wyatt G. was on fire and made some great shots on net. Helmut A. hustled and stole the puck on a number of occasions. Beckett R. also made a great pass to Mason W., which gave him a shot on net. And then, Joshua D. won the face off and passed the puck to Mason again, who with only 1 minute and 40 seconds left to go, scored our next goal to end the period all tied up at 4 – 4.
The third period was intense. Both sides wanted to win and our team stepped up to the plate. Chase R. had a good run up the ice. Daichi McE., on defence, hustled to steal the puck and whip it back down to their end on numerous occasions. Corbin H. made some impressive saves during this period. Paige O. had a nice solid shot on net. Wyatt G. was strong offensively and made an impressive shot on net, which landed just on the goal line…….hey, was this a goal??? The parents of both teams reacted as if it was – but unfortunately for us, the referee determined it wasn’t and play continued. Despite that disappointment, our team continued to play with determination and didn’t let it get them down. With only three minutes left to play, Middaugh scored again and despite our team playing as hard as they could, the final score remained 5 – 4.
However, our team should be very proud of how they played. They came back from a hard first period and played well, didn’t give up and continued to give Middaugh a run for their money. However, despite the end score, our team had fun and played fair. We still ended up with a 3 – 1 win record against Middaugh and the score in this game was certainly the comeback of the season! Congratulations team!!