The
Louie’s Pizza and Pasta Bantam Rep team went into Tuesday’s game against Ayr
leading 2 games to 0 in round one of the OMHA playoffs.
. A victory would eliminate the Flames and allow Ingersoll to advance to round two, against either the Simcoe Warriors or the Paris Wolfpack.
Mick Donker got Ingersoll on the board first, showing good patience as he moved across the goal mouth holding on to the puck until the goaltender was out of position, then flipping it calmly into the wide open cage. Ethan Emerson earned an assist on the play. Parker Hodgson added a power play goal before the end of the first, with assists going to Daniel Martineau and Joel Verspeeten. Number 14 scored his second of the game early in the middle period on a beautiful passing play: Hodgson slid the puck back to Nathan Graham on the point, Graham relayed the pass to his defence partner Brennan Rupert, Rupert returned the puck to a wide open Hodgson who beat the Flames goalie cleanly, giving Ingersoll a comfortable 3-0 lead. Later in the period the Express found themselves down five skaters to three for a full two minutes, but they killed the penalties effectively, blocking shots and keeping the Flames to the outside. Isaac Westlake made his presence known with a pair of solid hits in the offensive zone. Before the end of the second period however, the stubborn Flames scored twice, moving to within a goal. Ben White, Brennan Rupert and Symon Hutcheson scored for the Express in the third period, lifting Ingersoll to an eventual 6-3 victory, but not before things got a little crazy in front of the Ingersoll goal. Half way through the final period an Ayr player was flattened in the crease and fell on top of Ingersoll goaltender Logan White. White took exception, and a wild scrum ensued. Roughing minors were handed out to both teams, White, whose helmet was torn off during the melee, earned an extra two for head contact. A frustrated Nathan Graham was sent to the dressing room early, having been issued a ten minute misconduct for disputing the call of an official.
Submitted by M. Martineau