The Express showed their true character and what they’re made of this past weekend by winning the Aylmer Midget A/E Division Tournament with an impressive 3-0-1 showing.
Game 1 vs. Midland
Scoring was left to the end of the period with Nick Rizzo (
W Trudgen, A Webber) scoring and then just 90 seconds later, Luke Zegers (W
Trudgen) scored. Very clean game with only 2 penalties called.
Mitch Graham made beauty dangle move but was stoned by the
Midland net minder. Moments later at
the other end of the ice, Lucas Malchesky robs their shooter with a great glove
save. At the 6-minute mark, Luke Zegers
made an accurate pass over to Adam Dyzngel to punch one home.
Going into the final period, the Express were dominating the
scoreboard but Midland was still in it.
A kafuffle in front of the Midland net sees their goalie make a stellar
save initially but Ingersoll tucked in the rebound (R Allard) with under 4
minutes left in the game. Clean solid
hits and steady defensive play by the pairing of Jordan Pacheco and Joel Couse
was key to the low score in this game. Midland snuffs Malchesky’s shutout with
a short-handed goal with less than a minute to go. Game 1: Ingersoll 4
Midland 1
Game 2 vs. Orangeville
An early man advantage for Ingersoll seen Mason Schneider
keep the puck in at the line for Jeff Couse to take a good hard shot on
net. The fans were witness to some great
tape-2-tape passing early on in the game.
Ingersoll took a penalty and Orangeville pounded Jesse Wilson with
numerous unsuccessful shots. While the Express killed off the penalty, the
opposition scored with 3 minutes remaining.
The Express started the 2nd period with a man
advantage and the D continued holding the blue line. Midland took another
penalty less than a minute later. Nice
clean battles but no pucks go in. Ingersoll found themselves shorthanded midway
throughout the 2nd and Orangeville goes ahead by 2. With no signs of giving up and determined to
get on the scoreboard, Will Trudgen (G Maier) made it happen. The pressure
continued by the Express and Luke Zegers’ (A Dyzngel) shot trickled in. Orangeville quickly regains the lead and the
period ends with 3 2 in favour of Orangeville.
A crazy angle shot
by Joel Hall (A Webber) midway through the 3rd, and Ingersoll ties
up the game. Only 2 penalties served by
Ingersoll this game vs. Midland’s 6.
Game 2: Ingersoll 3 Orangeville
3
Game 3 vs. St. Thomas
Overall, the first period seen good clean physical play.
Lucas Malchesky had a few good saves as the Stars maintained pressure.
Offsetting penalties were awarded for St. Thomas charging our goalie. No score going into the 2nd.
The Express found themselves shorthanded but Rizzo hoped to
score on his breakaway but the crossbar won. Even strength for one minute until
the Stars were called for interference.
A nice stretch pass by Mason Schneider up to Ryan Allard didn’t gain us
a goal but Allard managed to draw a penalty. With that, the Express were
dominating to keep a lot of the play in the Stars’ end for most of the period
with triple the shots over St. Thomas. Luke Zegers (W. Trudgen, G Maier) scored
a scrambly goalmouth goal with just over a minute remaining in the 2nd.
The pressure continued and Mitch Graham managed a crazy,
from behind the net, unassisted goal. The Stars’ composure began to falter and
there were just as many players in the penalty box as were on their bench.
Ingersoll kept their cool and went on to win the game 2 to nothing.
Game 4 FINAL – Ingersoll vs. Orangeville
There was end-to-end action right from the first face-off of
the championship game. The Express applied good pressure but didn’t capitalize
on a man advantage late in the 1st. Scoreless first period.
Second period again seen good defensive plays with lots of hustle and good eyes
to pass to the open man. Finally a goal is scored by G Maier (A Dyzngel)
five-hole with under 4 minutes remaining in the period. The Express dominated
with shots of 9 to 2.
Final game sees a 15-minute 3rd period with 4 of
5 goals scored. With a two-man
advantage for Ingersoll, an amazing pass from M. Graham sets up A. Dyzngel for
a trickler goal. A quick even strength goal by Orangeville and the game may be
within their reach. Less than 10 seconds later though, Rizzo made a nifty pass
over to Dyzngel to net his 2nd of the game. Numerous penalty calls back and forth made
for a dramatic finale. A late goal seals the win for Ingersoll. Final:
Ingersoll 4 Orangeville 1.
While not every player’s name is mentioned in each of the
game summaries, this was absolutely a team effort to get these winning
results. Congratulations to each of you
for winning the tournament.