Jan 19, 2020 | Rich McNeil | 172 views
Game # 3 OMHA Playdowns - Thunder vs Express
Winter finally arrived in Southwestern Ontario, as a full day of heavy snow blanketed the region, giving way to sunshine on Sunday as the Peewee A/E squad hosted game #3 in our opening round playdown series against the visiting Thunder from Caledonia. Simple math, win and we move on to to play the winner of the Ayr/Tillsonburg series. Even though it's an foodies delight to make the trek to Caledonia, the boys had one goal in mind, and let's finish this series today.
Starting in net for the Express was Ben Baker, who would be facing a desperate squad, so he needed to have his game face on for this contest. It did not take long for the Express to open the scoring as Kian Brown crossed the red line and dumped the puck in the corner. Great hustle by Owen Clarke won the foot race to the puck and distributed a nice dish to Taylor Murray who made no mistake, slid the puck past the Thunder netminder. Caledonia however was not going to roll over and let this get out of hand, as right after the center ice puck drop, the Thunder gained the zone and even though Baker made a solid save on the first attempt, the rebound came far enough out to have any chance and before you could open up your coffee and settle in, the score was 1-1, only a 1:04 into the game. The balance of the period was dominated yet again by the Express who's relentless forecheck is a lot for any team to handle. And even though there were several good scoring opportunities that came our way, the Thunder stood tall and kept it a tie game headed to the second.
Period two would continue with the Express just one step ahead, and even though Caledonia tried to make some headway, Ingersoll was just too strong on this day. It was not until 3:44 left in the second frame, when Tyler Fleming, won a puck battle and proceeded to bank a shot off the goaltender from behind the net, and give the Express a lead. Caledonia would take a penalty for interference, but while shorthanded had a glorious opportunity to tie the game, but Ben Baker stood tall in net and denied entry of the puck behind him. Caledonia would take a late penalty and with Tyler Fleming giving the puck to Taylor Murray, Murray threw the puck at the net, only to land on a Thunder's defenders stick, however, he directed past his own goaltender, giving us a 3-1 lead heading to the final frame of this hockey game.
In the final period, Caledonia started to become unglued taking a few unnecessary penalties, but we just could not get anything by their goalie. Finally at 3:31 left of the third, the tide turned as Cole McNeil hit the crossbar with a point shot, and the puck landed on the stick of a perfectly positioned Owen Clarke who scored to make the game 4-1. Caledonia would pull their netminder for the extra attacker, but unfortunately for them the slick skating Jeremy Stiles got a hold of the puck, and by using his speed and high hockey I.Q, found some open real estate and scored into the empty net sealing their fate. Not ones to quit, the Express kept pressing and Taylor Murray would find the back of the net for a third time, with an assist going to Ryan Condotta. Alex Stratton would close out the scoring with a nice finish off a great pass from Stiles. The final was 7-1. The boys will turn their attention back to the Southern Counties playoffs as we meet Norwich at home on Tuesday Evening. Go Express!!