Mar 04, 2023 | Scott Price | 175 views
Friday Night Overtime Thriller!
Your U15 Rep IceDogs were coming off a hard-fought loss to Drayton on Wednesday. There was a hunger and determined look in their eye as they hit the ice on Friday night.
Tonights opponent was Goderich Sailors. These teams haven't seen very much of each other and the games were close when they did meet early in the season. Tonight was more of the same.
Play was tentative to begin the first with the IceDogs given up some glorious chances to the Sailors but Owen W. turned those shots away. Tentative play is not the ingredient this team needs for success. Pesky, pressure, and relentless skating and checking is this teams bread and butter and they switched the narrative in the 2nd.
Tyler B. led a terrific rush into the Sailor endzone after the 2nd period puck drop and with a quick spin-a-rama pass, he fed a wide open Owen M-8 for a top shelf beauty and the IceDogs were on the board. The very next shift, Riley J. collected a puck, getting it to Tyler B. Another sweet pass from Tyler led to Chris P. ripping one home and it was 2-0 IceDogs early in the 2nd. The "dreaded" 2 goal lead curse was in play now. And the IceDogs, took their foot just off the gas a little. And the Sailors capitalized to make it 2-1 and they definitely had the edge in play as time expired at the end of two.
A quick coach's message to get back on the throttle led to another IceDog goal. This time, Owen M-8 led a rush drawing 2 Sailor defenders to him. Ethan S. would collect the puck and slide it in for a 3-1 lead. The IceDogs kept coming and few just missed chances seemed to give the Sailors the break they needed. They would score on a backhander, after the IceDogs couldn't get the puck out and then with just over a minute left, they would find a hole through a screen and this game was tied after 3 periods of play.
We were off to Overtime again.
The IceDogs could have hung their heads, they could have quit after letting their 2 goal lead evaporate. But this team has built resiliency this year. They've been here before. And they started a charge. Ethan S. would collect the puck in the corner and make a B-line for the net. His quick shot rebounded to a wide open Simon J. who fired the puck into the back of the net for the OT winner! The Chesley Arena and the waiting U18 IceDogs went wild and the IceDogs are back in the hunt in the playoffs. Next up, a re-match vs the Sailors in Goderich...Sunday with a 7pm puck drop.