Oct 02, 2017 | JJewkes | 447 views
Ingersoll Rep Olympics
"Champions do not become champions when they win a event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character." - T. Allen Armstrong
The first tournament of the year was our own home Ingersoll Rep Olympics tournament.
Our bracket had the Ayr Flames, Lambeth Lancers and the Petrolia Oilers.
Game one had us against the Ayr Flames. Our Express were a little slow leaving the station and quickly found themselves down 2-0 at the end go the first period. The second period saw us slow starting to pick it up and we were able to cut the deficit to 1. End of the second 2-1 Ayr. The third had us battling back and forth but were not able to beat the Flames goalie game one would end with us down 3-1.
Game two was against the Lambeth Lancers, once again this was a close battle back and forth with no scoring coming in the first. With the start of the second the Express were finally able to get the train rolling and beat the Lancers goalie twice in the second. Feeling good our Express started the third 2-0. Lambeth was not out of yet, their chippy style of hockey battled them back into the game scoring twice the third. Our boys are not ones to be afraid of hard work and they themselves battled and scored twice more. Ending the third 4-2 Express.
Game three would be against the last team in our bracket the Petrolia Oilers. This team is a team much like ours small and not afraid to get a little gritty on the boards. Much like the last game we came out of the locker room ready to play and quickly go out to a 1-0 lead at the end of the first. Not to be out worked though the Oilers kept on battling and evened the score at ones. With a little over a minute left in the second the Express struck again and pulled back into the lead. Starting the third up 2-1 the Oilers and Express would battle ferociously and put on one exciting third period. The Express would not be out worked and for the second game in a row we came out on top with a 2-1 win. With that win we would finish in second and no matter what happened in Ayr last game they were finishing in first.
With time for redemption for our boys in the finals to show the Ayr team what we can do if we play a full game.
As soon as our boys hit the ice you could tell they were out to prove a point. Full on aggression. Working the fore check and back check we battled back and forth. Then at 2:14 Westin Matsumoto broke the zeros and put us up 1-0. Not to be out done though Ayr quickly responded 13 seconds later and evened the score 1-1.
The second started and played out much the way the first did. This time though at 3:08 Wyatt Thompson beat the Ayr net minder with the assist coming from Jonah Martire. With that the second ended 2-1 Express.
The third would not go by without some excitement. Our Express would fight off three penalties. Being short handed made for some exciting hockey and proved that all the hard skating Coach Bill puts our boys through really pays off.
The third would end and reward our boys with a 2-1 win over the Ayr Flames and the Gold medal For the Ingersoll Express Rep Olympics!
Our boys can say that this is a great quote to follow after this tournament.
“Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.” - Wilma Rudolph