Mar 21, 2015 | dcumming | 1454 views
A FANTASTIC HOCKEY SEASON CLOSES WITH SILVER MEDALS!
The Novice LL2 Eagles travelled to Strathroy on Friday March 20th, needing a win or a tie to prolong their playoff run!
With the promise of McDonald's ice cream cones for everyone with a win, the screaming Eagles took the ice, fighting for their playoff lives! The first period of play was action-packed with chances traded at both ends of the ice! The Rockets opened the scoring at 6:27, and added another at 1:09 to finish the period with a 2-0 lead!
The second period was a hard-fought battle for every inch of ice! The Eagles had several quality chances but could not find the Rockets net! All-out effort by Jack "Blackjack" Stewart, Alex "Bulldog" Nemcek, Briley "Smiley" Cole and Ryan "Rhyno" Stevens prevented many of the rushes by the Rockets! Wyatt "The Wall" Grover was sensational in net and provided some amazing saves with his glove, blocker, face, pads and stick! The score remained 2-0 Rockets after 2.
The 3rd period kicked off with Carson "Wheels" Cumming winning the faceoff to defenceman Ryan "Rhyno" Stevens who made a nice pass to Will "Robin" Janicek. Janicek then passed the puck back to Cumming, who turned on the jets and stick-handled through the Strathroy players like a hot knife through butter and buried the puck top-corner to pull the Eagles within 1 goal at 9:20! Fifty-five seconds later, he did it again! Picking up the puck in Eagles territory, "Wheels" busted down the wing and pulled out some nifty dekes to cruise in and score the equalizer! The Eagles bench was fired-up!
Fast and furious action ensued for the remainder of the game! In the final minutes Jack "Blackjack" Stewart saved the day, when he showed incredible hustle on a back-check that looked very dangerous! He was able to stop Strathroy's top-gunner from firing another laser at "The Wall"! Good offensive pressure at the end of the game by the Eagles led to a couple more very close chances to win the game, but it wasn't meant to be. As the final horn sounded, it was a 2-2 tie!
The tie brought the series points to 5-3 for the Rockets, but kept the Eagles alive to play again on Saturday! The tie felt like a win after being down by 2 in the third, so as promised, Coach Dan treated the team to their tasty ice cream cones at McDonald's!
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On Saturday March 21st, The Eagles were back in action needing a win to extend their quest for the gold! It didn't take long to get on the board. At 8:44 of the first, Carson "Wheels" Cumming opened the scoring when he weaved through a gauntlet of Rockets and lit the lamp! It only took 20 seconds for the Rockets to reply. They tied the game at 1 when the Eagles were unable to clear a rebound after a nice initial save was made by Wyatt "The Wall" Grover. The score was 1-1 after 1.
At 8:15 of the second period, William "Robin" Janicek was rewarded for his hard work, when he battled in front of the net, spun and fired a nice wrister past the Rockets goalie, lifting the Eagles to a 2-1 lead! Both teams worked very hard throughout the frame. Wyatt "The Wall" Grover was tested several times but continued to flash the leather and glove-down some quality shots by the Rockets, preserving the lead through two periods!
The Eagles held the lead until 4:18 of the third period, when yet another tough shot was fired from in close. Grover was able to get a good piece of the puck but it somehow trickled over his shoulder and into the net. The Rockets were able to score a go-ahead goal with 2:12 to go in the game. With their net empty, the Eagles gave it all they had in the final 2 minutes of the game but just couldnt find the goals they needed! At the final buzzer it was the Rockets 3 and The Eagles 2!
The Eagles earned a silver medal for their efforts and provided everyone with some quality entertainment! This little team worked their butts off and never quit giving it all they had, right until the end! Every single child on this team improved this year! I have thoroughly enjoyed having the priviledge to work with them this season, even if sometimes I wanted to strangle them! All joking aside, it has been a phenomenal season of hockey and I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the players, parents and coaching staff for all of their hard work all year! The fun we had could not have been acheived without all of you pitching in! Thank you! I hope your son or daughter had as much fun as I did and I hope they continue to play the greatest game on earth for years to come! Go Eagles Go!!