Jan 09, 2020 | Rich McNeil | 158 views
Game #2. I.S.S - A Nailbiter in Niagara
As game two approached, the Express boys knew they were in for a battle as they faced the Strathroy Rockets, who won their opening round match as well 7-2 over Maryland. Getting the start in goal for this game was Tanner Belore. The boys decked out in their away red jersey, set the stage of what turned out to be a entertaining game to be witness to.
The first period was a back and fourth affair, with both teams trying to impose their will on each other. Tanner had to be sharp, as the Rockets tested our netminder on many occasions throughout this game. Strathroy would score first midway through the first on a wrist shot that snuck by a partially screened Belore. With Mason Durham serving a two minute minor, the Rockets had a glorious opportunity to take a two goal lead, but Belore would have none of that, making a great save to keep us within striking distance. Jeremy Stiles almost tied the match, but the Rockets goaltender made a great save of his own and the period ended with Ingersoll down by one.
The second period, the boys really pressed hard to get the equilizer, but were a bounce away on many occasions, with several chances that we just could not put a strong stick on. Ryan Condotta would get a minor penalty for body contact, but thankfully instead of them taking advantage of the extra skater, they would negate the power play with a tripping call of their own. Not long after that, the Rockets would give us our first chance on the power play as they would again get another tripping call. With some confusion with the time clock, their player jumped out of the box early, negating a 3 on 1, and causing a significant argument between the referee and one of the bench staff from Strathroy, who proceeded to lose his mind, and was ejected from the game. Unfortunately for us, no bench minor was assessed. After a breakout with looked like the Strathory forward was off to the races, Logan Pare hunted him down and kept him from getting a quality scoring chance on the play, however, he was shown the sin bin for hooking, putting us on the pk once again. This time though, a little extra ice benefited the Express as Eli North, as he seems to do, danced his way through the Strathroy zone and finished with a NHL caliber deak to tie the score, with 19.58 seconds left on the clock, as little sister Peyton, sporting her good luck Ingersoll socks took it all in. After two, we were all square at two.
Period three was indeed a test in resilience, as the Rockets seemed to throw all they had at us. A great job by our entire defense core, kept them at bay, but they still were able to get some high quality scoring chances off, but Tanner was up for the challenge. Strathroy would finally solve Belore giving them back the lead with nine minutes left on the clock. As every second ticked off, the nerves became more and more noticeable. But with just over a minute left, Cole McNeil was able to keep the puck in the zone, and thankfully landed on the stick of "magic hands" himself Eli North, who made something out of nothing, and before you knew it, he had landed in the slot with the puck ready to launch, and placed a perfect shot, blocker side, by the Rockets netminder and knotted the score back up at two's. The last minute seemed to last forever as both teams desperately tried to finish this. The final buzzer would sound, and the Express and Rockets would leave the ice surface with a 2-2 tie, in what was one entertaining match. We will now get to chill out a bit before heading to what sure will be an eventful opening ceremonies being held in Fonthill tonight. Then back to the hotel for an early night as the boys play their final round robin game tomorrow at 7am vs the Flyers from Orangeville. Great job Express!!