Dec 07, 2019 | Rich McNeil | 184 views
Game 4 - QF match vs Ayr Flames.
After a 3-0 victory earlier today, the boys headed to our quarterfinal match against a familiar foe, the Ayr Flames, who we just played last week in an emotionally charged game. The winner would get a berth into the semi-finals, something the boys from Ingersoll were hungry for. Starting in goal, we went back to Tanner Belore, who was coming off an impressive shutout of the Midland Centennials on Friday.
Due to the tournament running ahead, the boys hit the ice fifteen minutes early, and in retrospect, may not have been the best thing for our boys. Even though we got a good scoring chance off the first shift, the boys struggled with puck control, and were in a giving mood, passing to their opponents more often than their own teammates. This unorthodox style demonstrated by our boys, came back to haunt them, as with 1:23 left, Ayr took the lead off a shot from the right hash mark, that Belore would have loved to have back. The period thankfully would come to an end, only 1-0 and gave Coach Belore and the staff time to calm the troops down and hit the reset button.
The second period, the boys came out with purpose, and Jeremy Stiles had a great chance, but the Ayr goalie was up to the challenge. This goalie, who is the biggest youngster we have seen in net, was stingy, but we knew if we kept to our game plan and get rubber to the net good things would happen. After a broken play in the Ayr zone, the puck landed on the stick of defenseman Mason Durham, who launched a hard shot towards the goal. A perfect tip by Ryan Condotta got past the surprised goaltender, and the Express were on the board, and their confidence level increased dramatically. While pressing on a power play, a funky bounce over Kian Brown's stick sent Ayr on a breakaway. Brody Huitema showed amazing heart chasing him down, but according to the referee, a hooking call was made, and instead of a two minute minor, the signal for a penalty shot was made. Even though the Ayr forward had a free pass from center, Belore is a hell of a goalie, and we had all the faith that he would keep his boys in this game, and with a great save by Tanner, the team congratulated their netminder, and proceeded to wake up and take total control of this game from this point forward. You could have easily called this the TSN turning point, because the Express team we have grown to love decided it was time to put some coal in that engine. Ingersoll would take the lead when Jeremy Stiles fed Eli North, who got off a good shot, but Ethan Kish would bury the rebound. Tyler Fleming would give us a two goal cushion depositing another loose puck left after another shot by Eli North handcuffed the Ayr goalie. Cole McNeil would bury the fourth Ingersoll goal after a clean face off win by Stiles, which McNeil shot high and went bar down on the Ayr goalie, who may have gone into the butterfly a tad early. The period ended 4-1 Express and we were ten minutes away from a semi final berth.
The third was more of the same, as the Express just kept the foot on the gas, working hard and never giving up on any battles. This blue collar effort was great to see, as the results finally were matching the dominance being shown on the ice.
Ryan Condotta iced it as he put a final puck past the Ayr goalie. Any hope for Ayr was dashed quickly as they took a couple of unnecessary penalties to make the chance of any comeback that much more far fetched. This was the most complete two periods this team played this tournament, and we hope that with a early curfew tonight, these boys will head back the dark and dingy Ayr Community Center and earn a birth in the Silverstick finals, with a win over the Druro Dukes, who knocked out the Midland team in a shootout prior to our puck drop. All the best Sunday Morning Express.... keep that train rolling.