Character Defined – Part 2, News, Peewee LL2, Peewee, 2012-2013 (Port Stanley Minor Hockey)

This Team is part of the 2012-2013 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Jan 30, 2013 | mdaer | 2262 views
Character Defined – Part 2
On Jan 27th, the Jr Sailors LL2 team hosted the Lambeth Lancers for the final game of their 3-game season series. For the second game in a row, the team was forced to play without a key member of squad as Blueline Crew member Jess Szusz was missing for the game. The game was a tightly contested affair that ended with a memorable 3rd period as the Jr Sailors showed their heart and never-give-up attitude, by scoring 2 goals in the final minutes to secure a 2-2 tie.

Jess Szusz’s absence meant that Evan Spangenberg would take on the challenge of the defensive assignment for the 3rd time this season. Evan put on an impressive display of determination and intelligent play throughout the game. This play was seen midway through the first period as Evan hit Ryan Meth with a great tape-to-tape pass to spring him on a breakaway. Unfortunately, the Lambeth goalie was able to stone Ryan on the chance, and the first period ended 0-0.

The defensive battle between the teams continued into the 2nd period, as each team’s chances were turned aside. Peter Vanbroekhoven made several key saves to preserve the shutout early in the frame, followed by Jack Lorch who stoned a Lambeth breakaway late in the first period. This outstanding goaltending left the game tied 0-0 after two periods.

The 3rd period saw all the action in terms of scoring. Lambeth opened the scoring 3mins into the period as they won a faceoff in the Port Stanley zone, and beat Jack Lorch with a shot that deflected off the post. 4mins later, Jack held that lead at 1 goal as he robbed a Lambeth player with a tremendous glove save. However, the Lambeth attack continued and they again took advantage of a faceoff in the Port Stanley zone. This time their shot from the slot deflected off a Port Stanley player’s stick and floated into the net for a 2-0 lead with only 3:32 remaining in the game. The Lancers appeared to have the game well in hand with a healthy 2 goal lead with just over 2mins remaining. However, the Jr Sailors had been in this situation before, and drew on the strength of their character to battle back into the game. With 2:07 remaining, Lambeth took a penalty to open the door for Port Stanley. The Jr Sailors pulled their goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage, and with just over 1min remaining in the game, this strategy paid off. Liam Hepburn won an offensive zone faceoff straight back to Morgan Palmer who slide a perfect pass to defensive partner Pernell Pasch. Pernell hammered a slapshot on net that bounced off the goalie, and right onto the stick of Luke Ainsworth who put it in the back of the net to give the Sailors new life in the game. Luke wasn’t done there, as shortly after the ensuing faceoff, he drew another penalty against the frustrated Lancers team. This PP opportunity allowed the Jr Sailors to pull the goalie again in favour of the extra attacker. The Jr Sailors kept the pressure on Lambeth for most of the PP, but time continued to tick off the clock. As the final seconds of the game counted down on the clock, Liam Hepburn worked feverishly behind the net to win the puck out to Luke Ainsworth. Luke dropped a pass back to Pernell Pasch for a last ditch effort, and his hard slapshot bounced off a Lambeth defenseman’s stick and right onto Ryan Meth’s stick in the slot. Ryan 1-timed a shot under the Lambeth goalie for an incredible game-tying goal with on 2secs left on the clock.

For the second time this season, the Jr Sailors rallied from a late 2-goal deficit to come back to tie the game in the dying seconds. That type of character will serve the team well as they finish off the regular season next Sunday against Thamesford, before marching into the playoffs. With likely playoff matchups against teams like Lambeth, Aylmer 1, Dorchester 1, and Ilderton, the team will need this type of ‘never quit’ effort each and every game.