Mar 05, 2022 | Rich McNeil | 274 views
Gm# 9 - SC Playoffs - Express leave Aylmer Empty Handed
This afternoon marked the last of three games in three days for our U15 Rep squad. With a couple of members out of commission, the team welcomed Brody Huitema and Logan Pare up to shore up the defence, and both played a strong game. In net was Jaxon Pinard, who was coming off a win against Delhi just two nights prior.
The boys played a strong first, outshooting their opponents 7-0, but could not find the back of the Aylmer net. The period would end scoreless, but the boys seemed to be holding up well, considering the two prior games that were both physical contests.
Period two, Josh Robles would get us on the board finally as Westin Matsumoto found his linemate streaking to the net, and Robles went high blocker side to give the Express the lead. Aylmer would continue to ratchet up the intensity on us throwing the body around, as it seemed the officials were going to let them play without calling much of anything, at least on the home squad, as we found ourselves shorthanded twice in the 2nd, but the Flames were unable to capitalize on the man advantage. As is the case in Aylmer, they flood between periods, and that extended break did not seem to bode well for the Express.
In the third, you could feel the tide turn a bit as the Express could not seem to get much going. They played fine in the defensive zone all night, but the black rubber puck seemed to have a mind of it's own, as the strange bounces did not go our way at all during this contest.
Aylmer would tie the game as an initial save by Pinard was made, but some confusion in front of the net, allowed the Flames forward to swoop in and gobble up a juicy rebound and snuck it by Jaxon. It looked like we were going to settle for a tie, when the Flames took a time out with 2 minutes to play, and what seemed to be a harmless shot towards the goal, took a ricochet off a couple of players and right passed Jaxon with only 1:34 left. We were able to get the extra attacker on, but were unable to gain the zone to get set up, and found ourselves on the wrong end of a 2-1 decision. There was indeed no quit in these boys as they get another chance at redemption Thursday as they close out the round robin playoffs at the Madhouse. Enjoy the day off tomorrow boys, you earned the break for sure!!