Jan 13, 2009 | rbauman | 956 views
Atom AE's - 1st Listowel team to advance
After eliminating Mitchell in three games, the Atom AE's will have a light practice at home tomorrow while they await their next opponent.
After a brief coaching staff meeting late in the afternoon, it was decided that weather wasn't going to blow the teams momentum away and it was GAME ON for the Atom AE Cyclones who were travelling to Michell for a 7:00 start.
It turned out the weather was the least of the teams worries. Down two games, the Mitchell team was facing elimination and weren't going out easy. Listowel, in their pre-game conversations, assumed this to be the case, and were determined to set the pace high.
Bauman started things off early at 1:30 into the game by pocketing one low and to the left. With 2 minutes left in the 1st, the Cyclones thought they were off and running when Fischer from Jamieson shovelled another one in low. In the final 2 seconds of the first, Mitchell managed to get one past O'Grady and between the pipes to make their mark on the clock. With only 10 minutes of play behind them and 30 minutes remaining, both players and fans thought their would be many more goals to come.
Defencemen Will Calder and Cooper Miller had shots from the point. Wareham, MacLeod, Senek and Uptigrove all tried from in close. Gooding pressed in, attempting to re-create his game winner from two days earlier. McGrath went high on the glove side and Bowman fired from the hash marks. The majority of the play was in Mitchell's end but nothing the Cyclones could do would get the rubber past the opponents netminder.
Moving into the third, the team switched it's focus from offensive play to defensive and eventually came out on top with a final score of 2 - 1. The boys cheered like it was 1979, and unlike the game, the drive home was uneventful.
Although goalie Sam Johnston didn't take to the ice in the series winner, he was ready to go at a moments notice and supported the team from the bench like no other player could.
This team played with heart and enthusiasm and made the coaching staff proud.