Atom Reps Season Comes to an End
The Kingsville Kings turned-up the heat on the Cycs and defeated the Atom Reps in the final two games of the series to bring our boy's season to a close.
The hopes were high for the Cycs as they took to the ice on Saturday with a chance to end the series to move on to the OMHA finals and knowing that a loss would mean a three hour bus ride to Kingsville on Sunday. A desperate Kings team showed-up knowing that a loss would send them home to clean their golf clubs. The Kings took control of the game right from the first face-off and ended the game with a 2 - 0 win.
Game 5, winner takes all, saw two teams ready for action. The fans were treated to a great game of hockey with lots of action at both ends. Both teams had ample opportunities to utilize their power plays and penalty kills as the refs were not afraid to make the calls. The Kings scored first on a screen shot early in the first period. Josh Gottfreid tied it up early in the second on a pass from Bryce Fletcher. The Kings went ahead again late in the second and then had a goal waved-off as it was kicked in. Hard work around the net by Lane Buchanan tied the game again, assist to Ben Rothwell. Three minutes later, the Kings once again took the lead. With just 3:44 left on the clock, Reese Johnson was left alone in front of the net and the goalie gave-up a rebound and Reese made no mistake and forced the game into overtime. Just like a good old-fashioned game of street hockey, next goal wins! Both teams had several chances early in the overtime period, but it was Kingsville who would find the back of the net at 7:34 and would end the playoff hopes of the Cycs.
The boys should hold their heads high as they played their hearts out and put on a great show for the fans all season long. The coaching staff and parents are all very proud of the boys and how much they progressed as friends, teammates and as hockey players. A very special thank-you to everyone involved in making this a successful season as follows:
- The coaching staff of Scott McDonald, Bill Berfelz and Fraser Collinson for taking the time out of their busy schedules to share all of their hockey knowledge and wisdom,
- Trainer Allan Rothwell for keeping the boys in top physical condition with the pre-game warm-ups and conditioning, the rehydration program on the bench and your ice-time in the event of injury,
- Parent Rep Nan Kaufman, for looking after any parent / coaching issues
- All of the parents for getting the boys where they needed to be in a timely fashion
- And of course, to all of the players themselves, for giving us, the parents, some awesome hockey to enjoy!
Congratulations, team, on a great season!
