THE SECOND PLACE SCOTIABANK BANTAM LL TEAM WIN AGAIN AS THEY PREPARE TO HEAD INTO PLAYOFFS
The Scotiabank Bantam LL team hosted the Mount Forest Rams,
in Monkton, for some exhibition play on Saturday, January 31, 2015. Two weeks ago, while in Mount Forest,
Mitchell hammered the Rams 8 to 2, but this time the win did not come quite so
easy.
The Rams hit the ice hard making it clear to Mitchell that they were not going to hand this game over to them. They netted their first rebound goal just two and a half minutes into play and continued to pelt our goalie, Reid DEGROOT, giving him a good workout right off the bat. Tristan BEEHLER responded with an unassisted goal. The skaters moved from end to end keeping things fairly even when suddenly a Ram got the breakaway and took the lead. Minutes later, MACAAAARRRTHHHURRR! The crowd erupted as Jackson MACARTHUR breaks in all alone, shoots the puck, it hits the crossbar and lands safely on the other side of the goal line. Kyle WETTLAUFER and Zeke KOERT got the assists. The game was tied up again, but with just 44 seconds left on the clock the Rams bit back with their third goal of the period to put them back in the lead. Ben HART fired the puck, with 1.5 seconds left in the period, it hit their goalie centre mass and undoubtedly left a bruise but still left the meteors in the deficit 3 to 2.
In the second period the boys worked hard to set up plays around the Rams’ net, they took several shots, but could not find a hole. At this point, Rams player number five grabbed the puck and weaved his way around Mitchell as if they were pylons; he shot on DEGROOT who made a beauty save preventing them from taking a greater lead. Eric DEARING finally tied things back up for Mitchell with the assistance of Kurtis FORREST. Hayden ADAIR provided strong defensive play all night and also took some shots on net when the opportunity presented itself. Half-way through the period Mitchell was on the power play. GOOOOAAALLL! The boys were back on top, 4-3, as KOERT flipped the puck over the goalie’s shoulder. MACARHTHUR and ADAIR claimed the assists. The boys were determined to stay on top. BEEHLER went to the net and banged home a rebound with the assistance of FORREST and DEARING and the period ended 5 to 3 us.
The entire team had to work hard during the last period as their penalty box had a revolving door. With a 5 on 3 disadvantage there was no room for error. DEGROOT gave the crowd something to cheer for with a wicked save, but then they snuck one in and narrowed the gap on the scoreboard. The boys pulled themselves together and then they did it again…GOOOAAALL! HART fired the puck on net and it smashed the back surprisingly not putting a hole right through it. Nic BAKER and Anthony BEUERMAN got the assists. The Rams pulled their goalie for the last minute of play making it 6 on 4 due to another Mitchell penalty, but they could not overpower us. We even got the last, all be it wide, shot on net and finished off with a 6 to 4 win.
The team has one more scheduled exhibition game on February 7th in Monkton and a couple tournaments. They are still maintaining their second place standing in league play and will begin playoffs in the next few weeks.