Oct 10, 2016 | nvanderbaan | 225 views
Atom Express LL #2 vs. Waterford Wildcats
The Ingersoll Atom LL #2 players boarded the Express train for a sunny trip to Waterford to play the first game of the season. The team pulled on the new sweaters and looked sharp and confident in the dressing room. The excitement carried over to the ice and the Express team was flying from the face-off. The game was filled with end to end action and both goalies looked sharp. #13 Cole Brownscombe had really nice rush up the ice but failed to find the handle and the puck slid wide of the post. Ingersoll held the puck in deep and fired multiple shots on net. The pressure was on but the Waterford goalie was a wall.
The puck was cleared to an open Wildcat who raced down the ice and flipped the puck past the goalie to put the score 1-0 for Waterford at 5:08. The hometown crowd cheered and the Wildcat players used the energy to hold the puck in the Ingersoll zone and pound shot after shot. The Express goalie #1 Damien Vandamme worked side to side and kept the puck out of the net. Great job Damien! The constant pressure forced Ingersoll into taking a tripping penalty at 3:07 and give the Wildcats their first power play. #1 Damien had his blocker working to steer away a shot on what looked to be goal. The players buzzed the net but the Express team did a great job and killed off the penalty. That was short lived when there was mixup at the bench and Ingersoll found itself back in the Sin Bin. "Too many men on the ice" was the call with 40 seconds remaining the period. The time ran off the clock with a score of 1-0 at the end of the 1st.
The Second period got underway and the Wildcats took control of the puck forcing it deep into Ingersoll's end. The Express team should all take a turn thanking their goalie as #1 made several great saves including one off the mask. The puck was all over the ice and players from both teams had some great scoring chances. Ingersoll finally cracked the scoreboard at 7:12 when #4 Kadin Vandamme came in from the left hand side the ice. Kadin grooved his way to the front of the net and flip the puck just over the goalie's stick and through the 5 hole. Awesome goal Kadin! The left hand corned proved to be fruitfull as Express #17 JR Sholdice dug the puck out and did some smooth stick handling before banging the puck home at 5:09. Great way to start off the season JR! The Express train was whistling and it was full steam ahead. It was team effort holding the puck in deep in the Waterford end and a tight scrum in front of the net produced the 2nd goal of the afternoon for #4 Kadin Vandamme. Way to Go Kadin and the crowd really let the players hear it with cheers all around. At 1:12 on the clock Ingersoll found its way to penalty box after another player mix up caught the team with an extra player. The puck stayed in the neutral zone as the Express team did a great job stopping the rush and the score remained 3-1 with Ingersoll leading at the end of the period.
The Express team killed off the penalty and went back on the offence. It was end to end action featuring some great goaltending from both sides. Ingersoll's goalie received a little help from his defence man #3 Owen VanderBaan who slid in behind the sprawling #1 and picked the puck off the goal line! Now that's "backing up the goalie" Owen, way to be there. The pace of the game was fast and the Express train was running low on steam. At 4:12 the Wildcats made a nice break out play from their own end found themselves on a break away. The Ingersoll goalie was left by himself and the Wildcat player made a nice move to score. Waterford had lots of gas left in the tank and proved it at 3:30 after out skating the Ingersoll players and finding the twine to tie the game. With Ingersoll on it's heels the Wildcats attacked the net and Ingersoll found itself in the penalty box for 2 minutes for tripping with 2:27 left in the game. Waterford made them pay for the mistake and took the lead at the 1:48 mark with a power play goal. The arena erupted as the hometown crowd found it's team back in the lead with a score of 4-3. That's how the score remained and the horn sounded to end the game. It was a great effort Ingersoll and every player should be proud of their efforts!