The Midget Reps spent last Thursday night at the Maitland Rec Centre, putting on a goal scoring clinic for the Goderich Sailors in game one of their playoff series.
The first period remained scoreless, however, Ryan Goetz broke the deadlock early in the second with some nice passing from Jordan Linstead and Connor Johnson. Conner Dewar gave the Cycs a two goal lead shortly after when he picked-up a Scott Boertein rebound and filled the net. Matt McCracken and Johnson went for a skate a few minutes later. Johnson faked a shot to fool the defenceman as well as the goalie and made a beautiful tape to tape pass to McCracken. He made no mistake in beating the Sailors goalie. The fourth goal came from Luke Binning, assisted by Goetz and Travis Bender. Joel Hartung would bury the fifth and final goal of the game with some great hard work in front of the net, picking-up a loose puck and lighting the lamp. Jesse Nethercott had a stellar game in net to earn the shutout. The Cycs outshot the Sailors 41 - 25 and outscored them 5 - 0.
Sunday night brought the Sailors to the 7th coldest arena in Ontario for game two. Once again, the score remained tied at zero until early in the second frame when Johnson would finish off passes from Matt Wilkans and Boertein to beat the goalie. Goetz would feed a pass to Cody Matheson who would stretch the lead with a boomer from the blue line. The team would be awarded their first penalty shot of the season when Binning busted in alone from the blue line only to be taken down by the Sailors d-man. On the penalty shot, Binning faked right, then left, then shot the puck over the tender’s blocker to bend the mesh giving the Cycs a three goal lead to end the second. The Sailors didn’t give up though as they fought back with two goals late in the third. It looked as though the Sailors would tie it up, however, Nethercott once again denied them. Wilkans would give the Cycs the two goal lead again with just minutes left on the clock, banging home a rebound from Binning off a pass from Bender. Final score, 4 – 2, giving the Cycs a 4 point lead in a 6 point series. Shots on net, 50 – 30 in favour of the Cyclones.
The boys can end the series with a win next Sunday night when the Sailors come back to town. Best of luck, Boys!!!
On another note, Coach Josh Beirnes has informed us that he will be moving to Halifax to begin his career in the field of education. The players, parents and members of the coaching staff would like to wish Josh all the best in his new career. Everyone would also like to say a very special thank-you to Josh for his dedication to the team, for sharing his knowledge of the game of hockey and for teaching the boys the value of respect and hard work. You will be missed, Josh!