Jan 01, 2011 | TMatheson | 2239 views
Peewee’s Game Improves at Silver Stick
The Peewees were hoping to break a long-standing losing streak at the Silver Stick by finally claiming the championship, but came up a little shy of advancing to the semi-finals. The team finished the tournament with a loss, a tie and a win.
Game one opponent was the South Huron Sabres. The action was fast-paced and back and forth with lots of scoring chances at both ends. It wasn’t until just over two minutes left in the first before Ben Rothwell would capitalize on a power-play as he would pick-up passes from Cole McKee and Bryce Fletcher and drive to the net to deke the goaltender and light the lamp. The Cycs held the lead and held off the aggressive Sabres until there was just four minutes left in the third, when the Sabres picked-up a rebound and found the back of the net.
It looked as though the game would end in a tie, but a failed clearing attempt by the Cycs put the puck right onto the Sabres stick. With just 26 seconds left in the game, the Sabres buried the biscuit to take the lead. The game ended with the Cyc’s net empty and six attackers on the ice, but they could not generate a goal. Final score, 2-1 in favour of the Sabres.
Tuesday morning would see the Cycs face the Ayr Flames. After the disappointing loss on Monday night, the boys knew that another loss would end their hopes of moving on to the semi-finals so they came out flying. Ayr would take the lead late in the first and would then stretch the lead to two just 15 seconds into the second frame. Wade McPhee would pick-up a rebound from a Reese Johnson one-timer, passed by Curtis Jackson, and would beat the Ayr goaltender to cut the lead to one. Ayr would reclaim the two goal lead just a minute later.
Early in the third, Bailey Matheson would bend the mesh with a one-timer on a nice passing play from McKee and Zach Robinson. McKee would then tie the game when he picked-up a pass from Josh Gottfried and made some nifty moves to beat the Ayr defencemen and then finished with a nice wrister to beat the tender. Despite numerous scoring chances, including two hit posts, the Cycs could not find the back of the net again and the game would finish with a tie at three.
Game three would put the boys against league rivals, the fast-skating and high-scoring Mitchell Meteors. Previously, in league and exhibition play, the Meteors had beaten the Cycs three games straight, outscoring them 13 – 3, but not today. The boys were aware that their chances of moving on to the semis were slim so they put their pride on the line and went out to win one for their hometown. The Cycs took to the ice with determination and stepped-up their game and went on the attack. Both teams had their chances, but it would be McPhee picking-up a rebound on a shot from Austin McGrath who would score the only goal in the game. Braeden Ellis had the game of his life in net for the Cycs and managed to keep the Meteors off the scoreboard. Listowel wins 1 – 0 but did not have enough points to advance to the semi-finals. The team did improve their team play and showed some great work ethic in preparation for the playoffs.