The Mitchell New Orleans Pizza Peewees came up against BCH in the WOAA Championship / OMHA Quater Finals in a race to six points. This BCH club lost in the OMHA finals a year ago and have proven to be a tough opponent through league play this season.
The Mitchell New Orleans Pizza Peewee Rep team opened their WOAA Final / OMHA Quarterfinal series versus BCH February 5th in Mitchell. Before the game was three minutes old the hometown boys found themselves down 2-0 and that score held to end the first period. In the opening minute of the second Jacob McPhee cut the lead in half with help from Jacob Rauser and Jake Preszcator. Before the period ended Mitchell found themselves down a man and gave up a power play goal making it 3-1 for BCH going to the break. BCH added further insurance in the opening minute of the final frame which proved to be the final tally for both sides with game one in the race to six points going to BCH 4-1.
Saturday night BCH returned to town for game two. It was a gritty first period by both teams holding each other in check producing few shots. Mitchell’s Preszcator capitalized on a BCH penalty with a goal in the final minute of the period to go ahead 1-0, McPhee and Curtis Lockhart assisted. In the middle frame Mitchell hit another gear and started throwing the rubber at the BCH backstop out shooting their opponents 12-4 but could not improve upon their lead. Early in the third Lockhart hit Quaid Austin with a pass breaking down the right side and his shot produced a rebound for Preszcator who made no mistake putting Mitchell up 2-0. BCH finally got one past net minder Tanner Knechtel to cut the lead in half with five minutes to go. In a tight contest such as this sometimes the bounces don’t go to the hardest working team and that was the case three minutes later when BCH pushed the puck towards the net only to have it knocked into the net by a Mitchell players skate; certainly not a deserving goal but a tying goal none the less. The ten minute overtime decided nothing on the scoreboard but Knechtel came away with bragging rights by stoning the BCH captain on a breakaway to preserve the tie.
The New Orleans Pizza Peewee Rep team traveled to Clinton to play BCH in game 3 looking to even up the series and avenge a bad bounce in game 2. The boys delivered by shutting down BCH in their own barn 3-0. This game picked up right where the overtime of game 2 left off with tight defensive play. Mitchell held the advantage in shots and capitalized late in the first period on a goal by Jacob McPhee with help from Judd Walker and Ryan Murray. The trio put Mitchell up 2-0 three minutes later to begin the middle frame with McPhee netting his second. On their next shift Walker blasted a slap shot past the BCH net minder to make it 3-0. From there the Mitchell defense paired with Riley Deline between the pipes shut down any offensive comeback from BCH to ice the win and earn the important two points. The series is knotted at three points each in the race to six.
The New Orleans Pizza Peewee’s were on the road a week ago Monday for game 4 in WOAA/OMHA playoff action with the 6 point series tied 3-3. The Meteors lit up the board on their first shift with a goal from Curtis Lockhart assisted by Quaid Austin. BCH replied midway through the period with a power play marker to even it up 1-1. The middle frame was scoreless thanks only to solid BCH net minding holding the Ice Dogs in despite being out shot by the Meteors 29-9 over two periods of play. That proved to be the difference in this game as BCH managed to get a pair in the third for a 3-1 win and take a 5-3 lead in points to return to Mitchell for game 5 on Friday.
In a must win game at home the Meteors knew what they had to do to stay alive as nothing short of a win would do. However things did not start according to plan as the Ice Dogs opened the scoring less than two minutes in to take the early lead. Mitchell held the advantage in shots one of which was an especially powerful blast from the point by Jacob McPhee; that BCH could not handle, drawing the Meteors even. Going to the second period tied at 1 it was BCH’s turn to throw the rubber at Riley Deline. By the end of the period the shot total for the game was even but what mattered most was that the Meteors cashed in two more goals to increase their lead. On the first, Austin muscled off two BCH defenders to break in and managed to get a shot behind the Ice Dog net minder making it 2-1. The second goal came from call-up Luke O’Rourke with helpers going to Judd Walker and Ryan Harmer. Early in the final frame Lockhart made it 4-1 with help from Kaleb Baker. Deline remained solid in net the rest of the way shutting down BCH. The win by Mitchell knotted the series at 5 points and pushed it to the maximum 6th game to follow less than 24 hours later in Hensall.
In the final game it was BCH with the first period shot advantage 9-4. Both teams traded power play goals, the first going to BCH and the second to Mitchell’s Lockhart to even it 1-1. In the second frame the shots were even at 6-6 but the Ice Dogs would get goals in the first minute and the last minute to take a 3-1 lead going to the third period. In the final frame the solid net minding of BCH proved to be the difference with shots favoring Mitchell 12-4. With just over a minute to goal in regulation time the Meteors were pressing hard with the extra attacker and were rewarded by Walker’s goal to draw closer, down by one at 3-2. With it being all or nothing and less than a minute left the Meteors had to press offensively but failed on a clearing attempt which BCH jumped on for a 2 on 0 passing play from the slot making it 4-2 putting an end to a hard fought series for the Meteors and prevented advancement to the OMHA semi finals. Quaid Austin had two assists. Mitchell’s hard nosed work ethic did earn them the title of WOAA Championship Finalists. Job well done boys!
The boys will now shift their focus to completing WOAA Round Robin League Playoffs with Blyth / Brussles & Teeswater in Pool B with the winner slated to take on the winner of Pool A. The Meteors recently took game 1 versus Blyth / Brussels.