Peewee Express on to OMHA FINALS!!!, News, Ponting Financial Group - Pee Wee Rep, 2014-2015 (Ingersoll & District Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2014-2015 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 06, 2015 | jrupert | 1205 views
Peewee Express on to OMHA FINALS!!!
The Ponting Financial Group Ingersoll Express Peewee Rep team were successful in their bid to advance to the 2014-15 OMHA Championships with a semifinal round victory over a very tough opponent in the Mt. Brydges Cougars.  The team will now join the Atom and Bantam teams in the Finals, hoping to bring the OMHA titles back to Ingersoll.

The teams started out with a game on Saturday, February 28 at the Tri Township arena in Mt. Brydges.  Earlier in the season the teams had met in the Blenheim Tournament and the Silver Stick Tournament, trading wins.  Although Mt. Brydges was the higher ranked team according to MyHockeyRankings.com, Ingersoll was itching to be David in this battle and take down Goliath through a well thought out game plan and sheer effort and determination.  Game one started off slow for Ingersoll, and after only 12 minutes of gameplay, the boys were in a 3-0 hole in enemy territory.  However, after Mt. Brydges scored their 3rd goal, the Ingersoll boys decided it was time to put up or shut up, and the comeback began.  Just a minute and a half after that 3rd goal Joel Verspeeten broke the shutout bid, putting home a shot after a nice setup by Isaac Westlake.  Then, just 3 minutes later Parker Hodgson and Daytn Racicot each scored and set one another up, Hodgson's goal coming on the power play with an assist from Brennan Rupert as well.  The team was back to even on the board with nearly 8 minutes to play in the 2nd, plenty of time left and basically a fresh start.  The tie didn't last long, as Mt. Brydges regained the lead late in the second period.

The teams went into the third period with Mt. Brydges holding the slim one goal lead, and with the outcome still undetermined.  Ingersoll shored up their defensive play and really stuck to coach Boersma's game plan, and held the Cougars off through the period.  The team seemed to be destined to take the loss though, since they just couldn't seem to find that opportunity to knot it up.  That is, until the line of Hodgson, Rupert and Racicot combined again late in the third with Hodgson getting his second of the game.  When the buzzer went, it was off to overtime.

The overtime was a standard 10 minute sudden death, 5-on-5.  The teams both came out with the intention of winning, and traded opportunities at both ends of the rink.  The Ingersoll boys persisted though and did not back down, and at the 5:20 mark of overtime Parker Hodgson got his third and most important goal of the night (not that they weren't all important in this game) and Ingersoll celebrated while a stunned Cougars lineup wondered what happened.  Final score, Ingersoll 5, Mt Brydges 4.

The teams returned to Ingersoll on Monday, March 2 for game 2.  This game started out much better for Ingersoll, with Daytn Racicot finding the back of the net on a Parker Hodgson pass and putting the team ahead with their first regular time lead, just :30 into the game.  The lead didn't last for long though, as Mt. Brydges tied it up :45 seconds after that.  Mt. Brydges took the lead another couple minutes later, and Ingersoll realized that it was time to regroup.  The team did in fact pull up their socks, and on unassisted goals by Nathan Graham and Hodgson regained the lead before the end of the 1st.

Again the lead didn't last long, as Mt. Brydges tied the score in the first two minutes of the second period, and then added another late goal in the period to take the lead back in the game.  In a carbon copy of Game 1, the teams entered the third period with Mt. Brydges holding a 4-3 lead.  In exciting fashion again it was the trio of Rupert, Racicot and Hodgson tying it up, this time with Rupert putting the puck into the net.  The teams continued their defensive battle, and of course the game went to overtime again, 4-4.  Ingersoll, hoping to tak a 2 games to 0 stranglehold on the series gave their best effort in the OT frame, but on this night it was Mt. Brydges turn to grab the OT winner, again midway through the period.  Now it was a best of 3 series.

Game 3 saw a return to Mt. Brydges.  This time it was evident right from the opening puck drop that the team bought into Coach Boersma's game plan, and they executed almost flawlessly.  Mt. Brydges grabbed the lead in the first with a goal late in the period, but aside from that one shot Ingersoll goaltender Logan White showed near perfection in the pipes, confident in every shot that he was facing.  And his defence group did an outstanding job in keeping their shooters outside and letting White see the shots and control his rebounds.  With the defensive side of the puck shored up, the Ingersoll offence was let loose.  First off, Brennan Rupert scored on a pass from AP player Gavin Bryant.  Then Parker Hodgson added two of his own, with assists from Racicot and Graham.  Rupert added another with the assist going to Hodgson on a power play goal, and in a 6 minute span the team went from being down 1-0 to having  4-1 lead and being in control of the game.  It seemed that Mt. Brydges began playing desperate (and rightly so), whereas the Express boys were showing great confidence in themselves and one another.  With nothing to lose, Mt. Brydges pulled the netminder with over 5 minutes to play, but Ingersoll was able to withstand the added pressure, even adding an empty net goal by Symon Hutcheson right dead centre.  When the final buzzer sounded, Ingersoll was victorious 5-1, heading home the next night with hopes of closing out the series in front of the hometown crowd.

The teams returned to Ingersoll for Game 4 on Thursday, March 5, with Ingersoll looking to close out the series and join the Atom Rep team in the OMHA finals.  The game started out great for Ingersoll, with Gavin Bryant getting the team on the board just a minute into the game, and giving a big boost to the team's hopes for the game.  From that point on, the team settled down into Coach Boersma's game plan, and executed a nearly flawless game.  Five minutes into the second period, Marissa Freeman fired a puck from the point that beat the Mt. Brydges netminder through the five hole, and Ingersoll took a commanding 2-0 lead.  After a wide open game 1 & 2, the team had settled down and was being extremely stingy with the chances that they were giving to Mt. Brydges.  Still, it wasn't a given that two goals would be near enough to close out the series, as Mt. Brydges had proved in the past to be a very explosive team on offense.  Late in the second period Mt. Brydges did beat Logan White and break the shut out attempt, again showing their threatening offensive nature.

After the break between the second and third period where Coach Boersma was able to reiterate to the boys what the game plan was and what had gotten them into a position where they were 15 minutes from the OMHA Finals, it was time for the crowd to really help boost the players on.  And the team seemed to react well to the support shown by the Ingersoll fans in attendance.  The team continued their smothering style and didn't give Mt Brydges any room, and the frustration on the Cougars bencch continued to build.  Midway through the 3rd period Joel Verspeeten-Gardham fired a puck off a Gavin Bryant pass that beat the Mt. Brydges goalie, and the team regained their two goal cushion.  A short while after that it became desperation time fro Mt. Brydges, again pulling their netminder with just over five minutes to play.  But Coach Boersma was able to get the players out that he wanted for each shift, and the team was able to withstand the extra attacker pressure, including a 2 man advantage thanks to an ill advised penalty with :36 seconds left.  But when the final buzzer went, the team closed out a series in which from the goalie out each player stuck to their duties, did their jobs, and listened to the coaching plan.  When all was said and done, the team was victorious 3-1, also winning the series 3 games to 1. 

Congratulations to Logan White, Daniel Martineau, Charlie Kish, Nathan Graham, Daytn Racicot, Brennan Rupert, Aden Brown, Parker Hodgson, Symon Hutcheson, Joel Verspeeten-Gardham, Isaac Westlak, Marissa Freeman and Keegan Purdy, and thanks to Atom callups Gavin Bryant and Jeremy Hardeman.  It was a great fought series, and an absolute pleasure for the fans to watch and participate in.  The team will now round out their SCMHA playoff round robin while waiting to hear who and when they will play in the Finals.