Weekend Wrap-Up Dec. 10,12,13
This past weekend the Atom AE Cyclones played three games in
four days going 1-2.
The first of three came Thursday night on the road against Mitchell. Coming off of a loss versus Mitchell in Silver Stick, the Cyclones knew they would be in for a difficult game. To add to the difficulties, the team knew they would be short two players for at least the weekend. With new line combinations, the team had a bit of a slow start. Mitchell was hard on the puck as always and scored quickly to take an early lead. Mitchell continued to pressure for much of the first, and would add another goal at the midway point of the period. After falling behind, the Cyclones finally found there feet before the end of the first, scoring with just over a minute remaining.
Starting the period within one goal, the Cyclones looked to tie the game early in the second. However, it was Mitchell who would once again score early, taking a 3-1 lead three minutes in. The Cyclones refused to give in though, and after a strong shift Barfoot drove the net and was rewarded with a goal, bringing the team back within one.
Starting the third, the team continued to push to tie the game. This time, the Cyclones were able to score early, tying the game less than a minute in. However, the tie game was short lived as Mitchell answered back just four minutes later, scoring to regain the lead. From there, the Cyclones tried to tie the game once again, but the clock ticked down and the game ended with a final of 4-3.
Following the loss on Thursday, the Cyclones were set to face Howick at home on Saturday. The team once again had new line combinations including Balzer, Evans, and Terpstra; Matheson, Leroux, and Kuepfer; Werth, Coelho, and Parsons. All three lines had a strong game offensively, as the team combined for two goals in the first, two in the second, and three in the third.
The team’s defense including Alexander, McNevan, Wilken, Schmidt and Gooding also played a strong game. They not only played well defensively, but also helped the team spend a large amount of time in the offensive zone. Combined with a strong effort by goalie Stevens, the team skating away with a 7-0 win.
Heading into the game Sunday, the Cyclones knew they would be in for a tough game versus first place Kincardine. To start the game, the team came ready to play. They started the game with three strong shifts, which resulted in quality scoring chances including a partial breakaway. However, they were unable to capitalize and Kincardine took advantage of a chance going the other way to take a 1-0 lead midway through the period. They would add another quickly to take a 2-0 lead heading into the second period.
Down by two, the Cyclones pushed to get back in the game. They continued to generate chances and dominated much of the second period. However, the Cyclones were still not able to figure out the goaltender for Kincardine. Although Listowel could have easily tied the game, Kincardine took a 2-0 lead into the third period.
To start the final fifteen minutes of play, Listowel once again generated some solid scoring opportunities. However, the story was the same, they were unable to score to cut the lead. The inability to score finally came back to haunt the Cyclones when Kincardine was able to score with ten minutes remaining to take a three goal lead. Listowel continued to try to break the shutout, but with just over four minutes remaining a Kincardine player scored his third and fourth goals of the game to make the final 5-0.
Although the score looks lopsided, the game once again could have been much closer. The Cyclones will look to continue playing hard, and hopefully score a few goals this Saturday at home against Wingham.
Thank-you to the AP's who came up and all played very well. Congrats to Coelho, Wilken, and Schmidt for receiving the player of the game jacket over the past three games for their hard work and dedication.