The Lockhart Funeral Home Pee Wee LL team played Minto on
Wednesday, March 11th and Sunday, March 15th to complete
their WOAA Playoffs.
On Wednesday, Minto hosted at the Harriston arena. Stevie DAUM suited up for this game and protected the net for the entire time. He had a couple shots on him right off the bat, but nothing he couldn’t handle. The boys were on fire tonight and they were determined to skate away with the win. Riley MURRAY got a hold of the puck in our end and took it for a ride all the way to Minto’s end, he shot on net, but it didn’t make it past the goal line. Ryker VANDENBROEK delivered a hard shot right at their net as well, but it too remained on the wrong side of the goal line. Both teams continued to battle it out for the rest of the period and it ended in a tie 0 to 0.
Mitchell had a power play early on in the second with lots of opportunities to score, but that puck just would not co-operate. Then finally, at the halfway point, Kole HUNT brought the fans to their feet as he scored our first goal of the night, or so we thought. Moments later we realized that both the ref and the scoreboard were not counting the goal. It became very necessary for the fans to amp up their cheers at this point so that everyone could hear them…especially the puck! It worked, because less than a minute later Cole WILTON got our first official goal of the night with the assist going to VANDENBROEK. The boys remained in the Minto end for a lot of the time and were very persistent as they drilled several shots on their net. DAUM was in fine form as he gloved yet another shot on him, but then things got super tense when there was an end of period scramble in front of our net. Those Minto players were not giving up until they succeeded but then BUZZZZZZZZZZZ…phew, saved by the buzzer. The period ended 1 to 0 us.
DAUM continued to work hard in the third. He deflected one puck right over top of the net and prevented another goal while sitting on the ice. Mitchell finally got it out of their end and scrambled, for what felt like an eternity, in front of Minto’s net. The fans continued to show their spirit and at long last Jake WALKER scored the next goal with the assistance of Wade MONDEN. Mitchell persevered as Jackson THORPE shot on net, MURRAY continued to move the puck into scoring position, Solomon KOERT deked behind the Minto net in an attempt to score and Denzyl FINLAYSON took a shot from the point. These boys clearly were not going to give up until the final buzzer sounded. Minto pulled their goalie with just 13 seconds left on the clock but to no avail as the score remained 2 to 0 right to the very end and DAUM claimed his shutout!
Great game boys! One more win and there is a very good chance you will head to the finals!
On Sunday, Minto came to our barn for the final game in the Silver South playoff series. The game started at 7:40 pm and within 32 seconds KOERT scored a sick (as the kids these days would say) unassisted coast to coast goal. BAM!! This game was underway! Jaden FAULKNER worked hard digging for the puck trying to pop it into Minto’s net. Eventually, it drifted back to our end and almost skidded right in, but VANDENBROEK found himself in the net as well and shot the puck back out. The period ended 1 to 0 us.
Period two was underway and within a couple minutes a speedy player off the Minto team got a breakaway which evened things up on the scoreboard. The game went from end to end all period long. Jesse JUBINVILLE was playing hard all game. He kept moving the puck out of our end and had a great shot on net as well. The last minute on the clock was rapidly counting down but that didn’t stop that same speedy girl off the Minto team who scored earlier from doubling their score and taking the lead. FAULKNER tried to score the equalizer with one more shot on net, but time ran out and the period ended 2 to 1 them.
The final period gave Brent SMITH a run for his money. He blocked several shots on net, but Minto was hungry for this win and padded their score right off the bat with another goal. Will STEINBACH skated hard to get that puck out of Minto’s hands and back to their net where it belonged. Part way through the period Minto scored again. Things were looking bleak for Mitchell. They dug deep until the very end of the game, but skated away with a 4 to 1 loss.
Mitchell ended up tied for second in this series. It came right down to the wire for our boys but, unfortunately, they were put out just hours before their last game by BCH.
Congratulations on an incredible season boys! You kept it exciting for everyone right to the very end and we enjoyed watching you all work together, improve on your skills and most importantly HAVE FUN! Have a blast at your final tournament next weekend, the Young Canada Tournament in Goderich.