On
the evening of Sunday, February 22, 2015 the Lockhart Funeral Home Pee Wee LL
team hosted the Wingham Ironmen for game four of their playoff series. Mitchell came into this game with a win and
two losses, so they knew they needed this win to keep themselves afloat.
Jackson THORPE was on guard in Mitchell’s end and used his defensive skills immediately to keep Wingham away from our net. Both teams were determined to get their mitts on that puck which resulted in it flying around and nearly taking out the ref not once but twice during that period. Midway through Cole WILTON saw an opportunity to score as he approached the blue line, scooped up the puck and flipped it up and over the goalie’s shoulder. GOOOAAAALLLL! Mitchell had scored that ever important first goal of the game which would hopefully lead them to victory. Wingham did not give up, however, and goalie Brent SMITH had to earn his money as he snagged a nice glove shot and deflected another up and over top of the net causing gasps and cheers of relief from the fans in the stands. The buzzer sounded and the period ended 1 to 0 for us.
Period two the Mitchell boys continued to put forth a huge effort to maintain their lead. Good defensive play prevented the scoreboard from changing and the offensive players continued to take lots of shots in an attempt to pad their lead. They ended the period the same as the first, 1 to 0 us.
In the prior two games things seemed to fall apart for our Mitchell boys after the Zamboni made its debut and tonight things would be no different. 24 seconds in and Wingham tied up this game. Mitchell continued to shoot on their net, but five minutes after that Wingham scored a power play goal putting them in the lead for the first time in this game. As the game was nearing the end, it looked like we were going home with another loss but not if Ryker VANDENBROEK could help it. He sailed in to the blue line where the puck lay waiting for him and took a slap shop so hard that Wingham’s goalie did not even see it coming. It hit the back of the net with just 59 seconds left on the clock. Mitchell tied up the game! Solomon KOERT and Carter YOST assisted with this power play goal. Period three ended in a 2 to 2 tie which meant we had 10 more overtime minutes to take back this game.
Jake WALKER had had several shots on net throughout the game and added a breakaway in the final minutes bringing fans to their feet, but Wingham’s goalie robbed him of this potential goal. The clock counted down to zero and the boys skated away with a 2 to 2 tie.
They will have their work cut out for them in order to win this series, but no doubt they will make it exciting for all to watch. Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday, March 1st at 8:15pm in Mitchell against the BCH Ice Dogs 1. Come and show your support for your Mitchell boys!