Jan 14, 2017 | lmccormack | 576 views
Stan Darling South Muskoka Bantam AE Bears have 2 wins in the MPS tourney headed to the Championship game
Stan Darling South Muskoka Bantam AE Bears win vs. Huntsville & Almaguin in the first 2 games of the Muskoka Parry Sound year end tournament to put them into the championship game on Sunday Jan 15th...
The Bears faced Huntsville for game #1 and came away with the win, final score 5-1. The 1st period started off with good chances at both ends, with 4 minutes left in the period it was the Bears that got on the scoreboard first. A solid shot on Huntsville net minder by T. Hornick-Martin led to Bears puck possession behind the net and a sweet pass out front to T. Danko. Danko with no hesitation blasted a one-timer past the Huntsville net minder to make it a 1-0 game. It was all Bears for the rest of the 1st, good puck possession and plenty of pucks at the net but the period ended at 1-0 Bears. Minutes into the 2nd period Huntsville answered with a goal to tie the game 1-1. The Bears turned up the pressure, keeping the puck in the Huntsville end, testing the Huntsville net minder. The Bears perseverance led to 2 more goals. D. Dafoe found the back of the net with a high hard wrister, assist to C. Johnson to make it 2-1. Defenceman J. Cousineau pinched and held the line, passed to C. Thomas... a hard rush to the net and a dangle for a sweet goal to make it 3-1 to end the 2nd. No intermission in between the 2nd & 3rd and the Bears kept the pressure and monopolized the play in the 3rd. Some fancy stick work by C. Woolhouse and a high shot that rung off the top corner bar to the other corner and dropped, allowed C. Thomas to tap one in to make it 4-1. The Bears did not slow down, offensive pressure led to multiple scoring chances throughout the 3rd period. A shot at the net by J. Cousineau created a juicy rebound for T. Hornick-Martin to blast one by the Huntsville net minder to make it 5-1 for the Bears.
The Bears passed well and played hard as a team all game long. Offensive pressure, good back checking, and solid defence kept the shots on the Bears net minder I. Fantuz to a minimum. When tested, I. Fantuz was ready, holding the puck well and limiting rebound shots. Great game Bears!
Game #2 of the MPS tourney the Stan Darling South Muskoka Bantam AE Bears faced off against the Almaguin Ice Devils. Going into this game the Bears are 2-1-1 vs. the Ice Devils. After a tough battle the Bears came away with the win, final score 4-2...
An exciting start to the game, within the first minute of play the Bears found the back of the net. A rocket wrister from K. Johnson in the open side of the net, assisted by D. Dafoe put the Bears up 1-0. With end to end fast paced play, it was a rush from the defensive blue line by C. Thomas, sliding the puck under the Ice Devils net minder, to make it a 2-0 game for the Bears, assist to T. Danko. Early in the 2nd period Almaguin fought back with a goal to make it 2-1. The battle continued...with plenty of physical play. T. Danko with a forward rush from end to end put the puck in front of the Ice Devils net and with a flurry of shots it was D. Dafoe that found the back of the net for the Bears to make it a 3-1 game to end the 2nd period. The Ice Devils did not let up and the Bears had to dig deep to keep the lead. The Bears kept putting the puck to the net and it was a bullet shot from C. Thomas that hit the goalie and trickled by the goal line to make it a 4-1 game for the Bears, goal assisted by E. Goodfellow.
The Ice Devils came back with a goal to finish the game with a final score 4-2 for the Bears. Bears net minder E. Guthrie had plenty of action and made many awesome saves including a toe kick and glove smother to prevent the rebound. The game was very physical but the Bears kept cool heads and played hard. Championship game scheduled for Sunday Jan 15th vs. Almaguin. Go Bears Go!