The Ponting Financial Group Ingersoll Express PeeWee Rep team travelled to Port Colborne to take part in the 50th Annual Golden Puck Tournament the weekend of November 29-30, coming away winners in their 3rd tournament of the season. The tournament involved some really good competition for the Express, testing their resolve in playing 5 games over a 30 hour span.
The Round Robin games saw Ingersoll facing 3 opponents in rematches of previous games played earlier in the month. Game 1 on Saturday saw Ingersoll taking on the Belmont Rangers. Flashing back to Saturday, November 1st, Ingersoll defeated the Rangers in exhibition play. Belmont came to the game seeking retribution for the loss, but Ingersoll was also ready to play. Belmont opened the scoring just over 3 minutes into the game, putting a quick scare into the Express and showing them that Belmont was not going to roll over. The scare woke Ingersoll up though, and 3 minutes later Ingersoll evened the score up on a goal by Aiden Brown. The score remained that way 3 minutes into the second period, before Parker Hodgson netted a pair in a :32 second span to put Ingersoll up 3-1. Belmont added a goal in the last couple of minutes, but that was as close as they would get. Ingersoll netminder Logan White shut it down from there, and the Ingersoll defence kept the shots to the outside. Final score, Ingersoll 3, Belmont 2.
Game 2 on Saturday saw another rematch, this time with the Caledonia Thunder who Ingersoll tied 2-2 on November 12th. The game was a chance for Ingersoll to prove that the game on the 12th wasn't a true indication of how they play against teams as competitive as the Thunder. The teams went back and forth through the first and halfway through the second before Parker Hodgson was able to tally for Ingersoll and give them the lead. Hodgson added a second goal less than a minute into the third to give Ingersoll a little breathing room with the 2-0 advantage. White again shut the door, however Caledonia did beat him late in the period to break up the shut out attempt. It was too little, too late for the Thunder, and Ingersoll held on for the 2-1 victory.
After a very interesting hotel stay, the boys returned to the rink to take on the Six Nations Blackhawks, who they faced two weeks prior and beat 6-1. Although the game wasn't quite as rough as a Six Nations home game, it was still a game that saw Ingersoll face their fair share of cross checks, body checks and high sticks that went uncalled, along with the parade of penalties that were called. Ingersoll started Atom goaltender Carter Spence for this one to give an ill White a break, since the team was guaranteed a spot in the semi finals, leaving Logan with a little gas in the tank for the semis and (hopefully) the finals. Ingersoll scored once in each of the periods, with goals by Daytn Racicot, Symon Hutcheson and Brennan Rupert, and did an excellent job all around helping out Spence, who held strong in the net and turned away everything he faced (20+ shots) for the shut out. The win assured Ingersoll of first place in pool B.
The semifinal game finally gave Ingersoll a chance to break out of Southern Counties and play a team that they hadn't faced yet this year in the Campbellford Colts. Ingersoll jumped on the board quick with Nate Graham scoring on a beauty shot from the point to beat the goalie high, putting Ingersoll in the driver's seat. Campbellford answered back just 2 minutes later though, and it was very evident to see that it was going to be a tough, close game. The teams stayed that way until very late in the second period when Campbellford scored on a breakaway with :01 seconds left, lifting them in momentum and taking the wind out of Ingersoll's sails. Coach Boersma regrouped the boys during the break, and they kept up with their game. Finally, with two and a half minutes to go, Daytn Racicot was able to bang the puck home and tie the game up. The period remained tied, and it was on to overtime.
The overtime format for the tournament was this: 1 minute of 4-on-4 hockey, followed by 1 minute 3-on-3, then another minute 3-on-3 play. During the minute shift, no player changes were permitted. And no one player was allowed to play a second shift. The strategy involved determining which groups of four and three would work well together and provide and even balance of offence and backchecking.
On to the overtime. The first group of four, Joel Verspeeten, Isaac Westlake and Brennan Rupert up front, along with Nathan Graham on the blue line put a lot of pressure on Campbellford and controlled the puck for most of the minute in their end, but were unable to score. Up next for the first 3-on-3 wave was Daytn Racicot and Parker Hodgson up front and Keegan Purdy in the back. Again, a ton of pressure generated but no scoring. The final threesome of Symon Hutcheson, Daniel Martineau and Charlie Kish did the same, with the same result. So, after three rounds, nothing was solved. Up next was a shootout.
For the shootout, both teams skated opposite directions at the same time, alleviating the pressure of knowing what the other team did and whether you HAD to score. Brennan Rupert was the first shooter for Ingersoll, and beat the Campbellford netminder with a nice shot to the blocker side. At the same time, Logan White shut the door, and Ingersoll won the game, moving on to the final.
For the championship game, Ingersoll was set to meet the host Port Colborne Sailors, who beat out Caledonia in the other semifinal. Port Colborne was an enigma of a team, seemingly appearing to play up or down to the level of their competition in the round robin play. Once again, Ingersoll got on the board first when a falling Daytn Racicot was able to slide home a perfectly placed pass from Hutcheson. The lead held for a while, but most people in the rink didn't think one goal was going to be enough. That was proven midway through the second period, when Port Colborne tied the game up at 1-1. From that point on it became a goaltender duel, with White and the Sailors netminder matching one another save for save, and when the final buzzer sounded the Express were back to overtime.
The same format for overtime, and the same groupings, produced the same results. There was plenty of pressure, and there were lots of chances for the Express to win it, but they just couldn't find the back of the net. So, it was on to another shootout. Ingersoll's first shooter, Rupert, scored again, this time with a deke. But at the other end of the ice Port Colborne also scored, moving the teams on to a second round. Round two was time for Parker (Porter?!?) Hodgson to be the hero, and he was. Hodgson beat the Sailors goalie on another deke, and at the same time at the opposite end Logan White held fast. And just like that, Ingersoll won their third tournament of the season. It was as exciting a couple games as the team has played all season, and the boys played their hearts out. Congratulations Express!!
Up next the team travels to Port Dover on Wednesday, December 3rd and returns home to host Burford Thursday, December 4th in league play, before travelling to Blenheim for the Golden Acres Tournament the weekend of December 5-7.