The
Louie’s Pizza and Pasta Bantam Rep team travelled to Forest to compete in the
International Silver Stick tournament over the weekend.
The Express started the tournament with a 3-2 victory over the Orleans Blues. Parker Hodgson opened the scoring, taking a nifty pass from Joel Verspeeten and lifting a backhander over the Blues goalie. After successfully killing off a double minor penalty part way through the second, Ingersoll took their foot off the gas and allowed the Blues to pull even. The Express regained the lead two minutes later when Hodgson controlled the puck behind the Blues net and slid a pass out to Verspeeten who made no mistake, scoring his first of the tournament. Before the end of the second frame the Blues managed to sneak one past Logan White, tying things up at two goals apiece going into the third. With eight minutes remaining on the clock, Ben White took a pass from Mick Donker and backhanded the puck into the top corner, putting Ingersoll ahead to stay. Dayton Racicot also earned an assist on the winning goal.
In game two, the Express faced off against the Hawks from Littleton Colorado. Ingersoll dominated through most of the game, coasting to a 3-0 victory. Parker Hodgson scored a short-handed goal in the first. Minutes later Ben White snuck in behind the Hawks defence and was in all alone, only to ring one off the iron. In the middle frame, Daniel Martineau drifted a shot in from the blue line, the puck deflected off the post and ended up in the net, putting Ingersoll ahead by two. Christian Lee delivered a punishing body check as the third period got under way. Joel Verspeeten out-hustled the Hawks defender to dig the puck out of the corner and lob a pass out to Isaac Westlake who directed a hard shot into the crest on the goaltender’s jersey. With 26 seconds left in the game and the Hawks net empty for the extra attacker, Nathan Graham was assessed a two minute penalty for cross checking. Despite being down 6 skaters to 4, Parker Hodgson managed to break fee and deposit the puck into the empty net to snuff out any hope of a Littleton comeback.
Ingersoll went into game three of the tournament confident that a victory against their rivals from Twin Centers would all but extinguish the Stars’ hopes of advancing to the semi-finals. After Twin Centers tallied the game’s first goal less than a minute in, the Express responded by scoring five unanswered goals. Hodgson led the way with a hat trick, and Joel Verspeeten notched a pair for the Express. Brennan Rupert, Ethan Emerson and Nathan Graham assisted on the Ingersoll goals. Symon Hutcheson continued to make life difficult for the opposition with his energetic fore-checking and physical play. Carrying a comfortable four goal lead into the final 12 minutes, Ingersoll began to sit back, allowing the Stars to work their way back into the game with a pair of goals. Logan White stood tall, stopping the Twin Centers forwards on a 2 on 0 break away. As play continued, Ingersoll grinder Isaac Westlake was tossed from the game and given an additional one game suspension for hitting from behind. The Stars kept pressing, and scored to make it a one goal game with just 26 seconds remaining. The Express held on for the 5-4 win, ensuring a spot in the playoff round.
As fate would have it, the two teams were destined to battle once again in the semi-final. The fourth place Stars were up against our Bantam boys, who finished the preliminary round in first place. The winner would advance to the final against either the Lambeth Lancers or the Center State Stampede. Ingersoll managed to kill off a pair of minor penalties in a scoreless first period that featured end to end action and saw Ethan Emerson come close, putting the puck behind the Stars goalie, but hitting the post. Hard working defenseman Ben Brown once again held his own on the Ingersoll blue line. Less than a minute into the second period cheers went up as Parker Hodgson scored a highlight reel goal, dashing the length of the ice before firing a laser beam shot bar down to put the Express up one zip. Daniel Martineau had a strong period, breaking up plays at his own blue line and feeding crisp, accurate passes up to the Ingersoll forwards. The Express train slowed when the team ran onto penalty trouble in the second. The Stars took advantage, tying the game on the power play. Later in the period the Express enjoyed a two man advantage for 55 seconds, but were unable to put the puck behind the Stars net minder. In the third period Logan White was bowled over when Daniel Martineau took down a Twin Centers forward who was charging the net looking for the go ahead goal. The puck stayed out, and the game went into sudden death overtime. White kept Ingersoll alive with a huge save part way through the extra frame, stoning a Stars forward who found himself all alone in the slot. Later, with the fans from both teams perched nervously on the edge of their seats, a scramble ensued in front of the Ingersoll net and the puck somehow found its way across the goal line, eliminating the Express and sending the Stars to the tournament final.
Submitted by M. Martineau