Your Arran-Elderslie U13 A TEAM headed east bound today hunting their second W of this early season. They were confident coming off a dominant 4-1 win last weekend over the Shallow Lake Lakers. Coach Chris delivered a message of working as a team and committing to team Defense as well as putting pucks in the net.
The Dogs started hot as Carter G and Aden M buried 2 for a quick lead. Well this possibly brought a little overconfidence to the Dogs bench as the Rebels decided that they were not shaken by those 2 goals and they stormed back to take a 4-2 lead.
In the second frame the Dogs struggled to find consistency and were not working together very well. However Jake F was determined to try and get the Dogs going and brought them back within 1assisted by Aden M and Mack M. Once again though some scattered Dogs play allowed the Rebels to maintain a strong attack and they would score 2 more before the end of the period and head to recess up 6-3.
During the flood Coach Chris delivered a message of calm to the Dogs as they were rattled and frustrated by the sustained Rebel attack. This made them feel like the game was out of reach. Coach Chris However said that all they had to do was get back to playing like a team and that commitment to Defense to ensure that no more goals were scored. Also they needed to challenge Rebel shooters and create turnovers for scoring opportunities. Finally get back to passing the puck and working as a unit to put pucks in the net. All they had to do was score one at a time work their way back and believe in themselves and success could be theirs.
Well something in the coaches message must have clicked with the team because they came out with a brand new shine for the third frame. They swarmed the Rebels and Carter G started the IceDogs onslaught assisted by Braden N and Justin S. Next Chase G would bend twine assisted by Aden M and Justin S. Then Carter G would take over netting 3 with help from his friends Tom M, Jake F, Chase G, and Quinn C. This had the Dogs up 8-6 with minutes to go. The Defense took over at this point and everyone chipped in to make sure the Rebels offense couldn't get going. Aden M made a huge defensive play late in the game to ensure that the momentum couldn't shift the other way again. The buzzer went to end the game the comeback was complete and the Dogs go home with a second W and dreams of Halloween candy in their heads.
This game is proof that with a little belief and hard work there is nothing that this team can't accomplish. Working together and playing for the logo on the front and everyone doing their part will continue to bring success to this team. They have a practice this week to work out some kinks then next Saturday they have their home opener against Owen Sound Red in Tara at 10:30am.