The
Ingersoll Express bantam boys faced off against Simcoe on December 20th
in a game that saw the home team outhustled by the feisty Warriors for much of
the opening period.
Simcoe had several good scoring chances early in the game, but Logan White shut the door, keeping the game scoreless until Parker Hodgson intercepted a pass in the Simcoe zone and fired a wrist shot into the top corner. The Warriors fought back to tie the game before the buzzer sounded to end the first period. In the second, Ingersoll turned it up a notch, led by the speedy Isaac Westlake who broke through the defence but was denied on a breakaway. Less than a minute later, a determined Westlake came flying down the wing, cut towards the Simcoe goal and fell hard into the post knocking the net off its moorings. The puck stayed out and luckily number 17 was not injured on the play. Later in the period Brennan Rupert’s booming slap shot from the blue line almost made it through. As Ingersoll continued to press, hardworking Christian Lee directed a shot toward the Simcoe net, Parker Hodgson attempted to deflect the puck into the goal using his upper body, the Warrior’s goaltender blocked the shot, but Joel Verspeeten was on the spot to bury the rebound, putting the Express up 2 to 1. Ingersoll had the opportunity to put the game out of reach in the third, but twice failed to capitalize on the power play. When Westlake was sent to the box for interference with 3:12 remaining on the clock, it looked as if the victory might slip away, but Ingersoll defended well while short handed and with the Simcoe goalie on the bench for the extra attacker held on to defeat the Warriors 2 to 1.
On December 22nd Ingersoll travelled to Aylmer to douse the Flames as they have done previously on two occasions this season. After a scoreless first period, Symon Hutcheson found the back of the net to get the Express train rolling in the second. A beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play put Ingersoll ahead 2 – 0. Christian Lee fed a pass to Parker Hodgson in the corner, Hodgson spotted Joel Verspeeten alone out front and number 19 beat the Flames goalkeeper cleanly. After serving two minutes in the box for charging, Isaac Westlake unleashed a wicked wrist shot that made it 3 – 0 Ingersoll. Dayton Racicot and “Big Sy” Hutcheson earned assists on the Westlake goal. With help from Ben White and Christian Lee, Dayton Racicot potted a power play goal early in the third as the Express continued to dominate. Westlake added his second goal of the game, taking a nice pass from Hodgson. Number 17 completed the hat trick minutes later, Brennan Rupert and Symon Hutcheson drawing assists on the play. With his team short-handed, Logan White came up with several big saves in the final minutes of the third period to preserve the shutout as Ingersoll skated off with a convincing 6 – 0 victory. The team heads north to Wasaga Beach to compete in the Silver Stick tournament December 27th to 29th.
Submitted by M Martineau