After having Saturday’s game against Cayuga cancelled due to
weather, the Ingersoll Carmeuse Lime Express Juvenile rep team travelled to
Tavistock on Sunday to face the Titans where they came out on the short end of
a 3-2 score.
In a game that was a preview of the upcoming OMHA preliminary round series, the Ingersoll Express entered the game with a short bench as they started the game with only nine skaters and two goalies. Tavistock would take advantage of a miscue by the Express in the neutral zone and score a breakaway goal with 7:13 remaining in the first period. Shortly after the opening goal, Ingersoll was assessed a triple minor penalty. Tavistock would score their second goal during the first two minutes of the power play, but some strong penalty killing would allow Ingersoll to escape the first period only down 2-0.
Ingersoll would come to life in the second period. After coming close on some good chances, Ethan Hurst’s pass to Eric Savoie would send him in on a breakaway and Savoie would capitalize on a nifty move sliding the puck between the Tavistock goalie’s legs to bring the Express within a goal. Then with 56 seconds left in the second period, Ethan Hurst’s shot from the point would bounce of the boards behind the Titans net and come out Kirk Meek standing all alone at the side of the crease and would bury his shot into the open net to tie the game a 2-2. A highlight reel save by Ingersoll goalie Ryan Calder at the end of the second period just before the buzzer sounded allowed Ingersoll to head to the intermission in a tie game.
In the third period, both teams had chances to take the lead. Ingersoll would find themselves only with eight skaters for most of the third period after defenceman Ethan Hurst had to leave the game due to injury. With 3:46 left in the game, Tavistock would win a faceoff that went directly to the right winger whose hard shot picked the corner of the Express net to give the Titans a 3-2 lead. Despite a valiant effort by a tired group of players, the Express were not able to score in the final minutes of the game.
Next weekend the Express will travel to Glanbrook on Saturday night to face the Rangers in a regular season game. On Sunday Ingersoll will be back in Tavistock to face the Titans in game 1 of the OMHA playdowns preliminary round series. Based on last Sunday’s game, this should be a closely contested, highly entertaining series. The series schedule is as follows:
Game 1 – Sunday January 27 – Ingersoll at Tavistock 1:20 pm
Game 2 – Saturday February 2 – Tavistock at Ingersoll 8:30 pm
Game 3 – Sunday February 3 – Ingersoll at Tavistock 1:20 pm
Game 4 – Saturday February 9 – Tavistock at Ingersoll 8:30 pm (if necessary)
Game 5 – Sunday February 10 – Ingersoll at Tavistock 1:20 pm (if necessary)