The U13 Rep team won the first game of
the series against Kawartha in a 2-1 nail biter in double overtime! A truly electric
game with fantastic hockey for the fans. “We played our kind of game, the forecheck
by the forward group was relentless, the defense was rock solid and also added
an offensive boost, and Ranic was near perfect in goal” expressed head coach
Shawn Prentice.
We knew this series was going to be
tough and Monday night did not disappoint. For the 1st game in the
series it was a hard fought battle the entire game. The Wild have been playing
really well on defense by limiting defensive chances and activating on offense
as well. Proof of that was early in the 1st period
when the Wild’s Liam Laidlaw went on a nice rush and beat the Kawartha goalie
for a quick 1-0 lead. Shortly after the goal the Wild took a penalty and went
on the PK. Brock worked hard to kill it
off and limited the chances and Colton Ranic made some key saves. Colton said
after the game “Everyone showed up to play, and the team battled all game,
would be great to finish this tomorrow night!”.
The 2nd period saw more tight hockey and the Wild were
able to limit Kawartha chances to the outside. Late in the 2nd
period a costly turnover led to a high-quality chance for Kawartha and they snuck
it by Ranic. To make things more interesting for the Wild fans a late penalty in
the 2nd meant a critical upcoming kill that was split up by a break
for intermission.
The Wild had a good chat during intermission and stuck
to the plan for the 3rd. Brock
killed off the penalty in the 3rd period and continued with a
relentless forecheck and strong defensive play. Both teams traded chances and
the battle continued. Kawartha took a
penalty but Brock was unable to capitalize and struggled to setup their
power-play. The period ended with some
great chances for both teams but the 3rd closed 1-1. And they headed for overtime!
OT started with a 4 on 4 for 5 minutes and you could
cut the tension with a knife in that packed arena. Both teams liked the open ice but Brock had
some great chances and had the upper hand.
The 5 min extra period ended still tied and they moved to a 3 on 3 for 5
minutes. Brock sent out their big guns
and it paid off with a fantastic rush by Owen Dewsbury and he walked through
the 3 Kawartha players and fired a hard shot high glove side. The Coyotes goalie got a piece of it but not
enough and it went in!
Brock won in double overtime and now the Wild are 1 win
away from clinching the series. On the defensive side Cooper Stephenson has
been asked to play a key role and has done a stellar job. “It was a tough
battle but we won. We worked hard as a team and tonight we came out on top”.
The game MVP went to the game winning goal scorer.
After the game Owen Dewsbury said “When we play together as a team there’s not a
team in the league that can play with us”.
The Wild will play tonight for game 2 at their home
barn in Beaverton at 7pm. See you there.
Go Wild!