The Ingersoll Carmeuse Lime Express Juvenile rep team built
up a five goal lead after two periods then held on in the third to beat the Hespeler
Shamrocks 5-3 to win the Beechey league “A” playoff championship on Sunday
afternoon.
A lot of Ingersoll’s success this season has resulted from getting off to fast starts and scoring early goals. This game was no exception as just 3:03 into the first period, Hespeler was about to break out of their own end but defenceman Christian Johnston would make a great play to keep the puck in at the Shamrocks blue line then feed a pass to Qwertay Dei along the boards who in turn would find Hayden Synder alone at the side of the Hespeler net for a tap in goal to give the Express an early 1-0 lead. The rest of the first period would see back and forth action but strong goaltending by both teams kept the score at 1-0 after the first period.
The Express would then play one of the best periods of the year in the second period. With 10:57 remaining in the second goaltender Ryan Calder would make one of his patented passes to Kirk Meek who would then chip the puck of the boards to Carter Franklin to send him in on a partial breakaway. Franklin moved in on the Hespeler net and fired a perfect shot just above the Shamrock’s goalie’s shoulder and below the cross bar to give Ingersoll a 2-0 lead. Just 33 seconds later, Kirk Meek would battle hard for a loose puck in front of the Hespeler net and while falling to the ice would slide a back hand through the Shamrock goalie’s legs for an unassisted goal to give Ingersoll a 3-0 lead. Later in the period, captain Mike Rotteveel would exhibit some excellent fore checking in which he gained control of the puck behind the Hespeler net and fed Qwertay Dei in the slot who rifled a hard wrist shot high on the blocker side which found the back of the net to give Ingersoll a 4-0 lead with 7:54 remaining in the period. With 3:46 left in the second, Kirk Meek would make a cross ice pass to Carter Franklin in the Hespeler end and Franklin would rip a laser wrist shot from just inside the top of the left faceoff circle that picked the top blocker side corner of the net to give Ingersoll a 5-0 lead. Goaltender Ryan Calder was solid through the first two periods, making several key saves to keep Hespeler off the scoreboard and prevent them from gaining any momentum.
In the third period, Hespeler would try to get back into the game. Just 33 seconds into the period the Shamrocks would capitalize on an Express turnover and score on a hard wrist shot past goalie James Allison who came in to play net for the third period. The Shamrocks crept a little bit closer by scoring a power play goal with 12:00 remaining. However Allison would make some key saves after that and then later in the period the Shamrocks would run into some penalty trouble which helped the Express kill some time off the clock. Hespeler would score a late goal with 32 seconds left but it was too little too late as the Express skated of with a 5-3 victory to claim the championship.
This was a fitting end to the season for this group of players and coaches. It has been a season of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. The lowest point came in November when teammate Tyler Arts was tragically killed in an automobile accident. The team would then experience a high by winning the prestigious International Silver Stick Juvenile “B” title in Mooretown in January. Ingersoll would finish the regular season in third place in the Beechey Juvenile league standings (two points behind first place Woolwich and one point behind second place Hespeler). In February the team experienced a disappointing loss to Tavistock in OMHA play downs of which two of the losses were in overtime. Tavistock would go on to win the OMHA Juvenile BB-B-C championship. However the season would end on a high note by winning what is believed to be Ingersoll’s first ever Beechey Juvenile league playoff championship. Through it all the team played some highly entertaining hockey.
Ken Zegers and his coaching staff should be recognized for what they have done to build the Juvenile rep program in Ingersoll. It had been great to witness some great hockey over the course of the past two seasons.
In closing, I would like to say it has been an honour and a privilege to represent this group of players and coaches as media rep. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed sharing the stories of all the triumphs and setbacks this team had over the season. This was a very special group and I was so impressed the way everyone on the team and all those associated with the team carried themselves with such great class, character and dignity throughout the season. I wish nothing but the best for everyone whether it be in sports or in life.
Team Photo:
Captain Mike Rotteveel accepting trophy:
Coaching staff from left right – Rick Arts, Chis Shelton, Ken Zegers, Ryan Maurice
