Bantam AE Playoff Hopes Fall Short, News, Bantam AE - Thamesford Pizza, 2017-2018 (Ingersoll & District Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2017-2018 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 11, 2018 | dosmond | 1143 views
Bantam AE Playoff Hopes Fall Short
The Bantam AE Rep Thamesford Pizza squad took to the ice Thursday night at Burford and needed a win to secure a playoff spot. The good guys trailed Burford by 2 points in the standings and were tied with Caledonia going into the last game of the second half.

A win over the Bulldogs, and some help from Plattsville against Caledonia, would have secured a playoff position for the Express. But the Express effort ended up in a tie with the Bulldogs and with Caledonia's win over Plattsville the Bantam AE team found themselves sitting one point out of the final playoff spot.

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The fact that they were so close to a playoff spot is something the team should be proud of. After some rough moments in the middle of the season, the boys seemed to find a successful recipe late. In their last 6 games the Bantam AE team went 3-1-2. As a fan you could see the progress of the team. Confidence in their abilities and each other seemed to grow and the results indicated that.

Multiple times you could see the boys executing plays in games that had been practiced a few days earlier. What they lacked in size they certainly made up for in determination. While at times this year they could have simply given up, they kept working and their gritty style let other teams know they weren't going to go down without a fight. Although you maybe didn't reach your final goal you should take some time to reflect on where you were as a team and where your hard work got you.

This determination was evident at the start of the game against the Bulldogs as the visitors came out at the start of the game strong. Ingersoll controlled most of the play in the first period and managed to keep the pressure on Burford.

The game would head into the second still scoreless but Ingersoll would eventually get on the board 4:35 into the period when Tyler Bergman took a pass from Colin VanDyk and beat the Bulldog defense. Bergman let a wrist shot fly that beat the Bulldog goalie to give the Express the opening goal of the game.  The Bulldogs would turn the pressure up on the visitors and would tie the game with 5:20 left in the second.

Ingersoll would bounce back 2:01 later when VanDyk let a low, hard wrist shot go from the right point. The Bulldog goalie made the initial save but could not control the rebound. Luke Turner was left wide opened by the Burford defense at the side of the net. Turner would grab the loose puck and easily put it in to a wide open net to give Ingersoll a 2-1 lead heading into the third.

With the lead, and only 15 minutes between the Express and a potential playoff spot, the team would try to hold off the Bulldogs. But a 4 minute Burford powerplay took away some of the Express momentum. The Bulldogs would capitalize on the first two minute advantage tying the game at 2. Ingersoll would re-group after a timeout and rode an aggressive penalty kill to keep the game tied.

Both sides generated some opportunities the rest of the period but neither side could find the back of the net.

Congratulations to the boys on their run late in the season. You kept things interesting for us hockey parents who tagged along. Good luck next year wherever you are and in whatever you do.


The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say
that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.
-Wayne Gretzky

There may be people that have more talent than you, but there's no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.
-Derek Jeter