Atom AE ('01-'02) - West Lorne
West Lorne visited our Stars for a Saturday afternoon tilt at the Timken Centre. They are a well coached, hard working team, and although we have won both meetings this season, it was by the slimmest of margins. Staying true to form, we eked out another squeaker 3-2 scoring late in the third to seal the deal and get back into the win column.
West Lorne started strong and scored the only goal of the first period on a two on two rush that ended up in the back of our net. We had a few chances, but were not firing on all cylinders. Rhett Devries shut the door for the remainder of the first, and allowed us to regroup between periods.
Our boys turned the tide in the second and started to generate more offence. The line of Ethan Bradley, Liam Armstrong, and Jared Parkin tied the game for us during a buzzsaw shift that had the opposition hemmed in their end for the entire duration. Jared was able to bury a shot from the side of the net, with well earned assists from Ethan and Liam.We seemed to be in control for the rest of the period, but the second ended 1-1.
I was feeling cautiously optimistic on the bench going into the third, but I knew it was going to be a battle right to the very end. Our Stars took the lead early in the third when Darryn Olyschlager was set up perfectly in front of the net when Lucas Glanville stripped the puck off the West Lorne Dman in the corner. Tyler Johnston and Lucas picked up the assists when Darryn fired one over the keeper's glove from tight in the slot. The boys protected the lead very well for most of the third, but we had one breakdown in our own end where we could not clear the puck, and to West Lorne's credit, they buried it with 5 minutes left. Subtract one more year off of my life due to stress, but the boys managed to give it back to me with 2 minutes left in the game when Owen Wookey made a determined end to end rush. His shot bounced off the goalies' pad and Carter Stephens was in perfect position at the side of the net to bang in the rebound. Coleton Robison-Sareh also collected an assist from his own end by covering up defensively, and allowing Oman to take off up the ice on his rush. We did not really give up any chances after that, and we drew a penalty with 1:30 left in the game when Darryn was pulled down on a near breakaway. I was giving final instructions to our boys about killing the last 90 seconds when BZZZZZ.
Curfew, that wonderful curfew! Just kidding, I didn't like winning this way, but we've been burned by it enough this year so we'll take it and run.
Overall, this was a very satisfying win from my coaching perspective. We were not totally dominant, but we were always in control. There seemed to be a lot more passes, and the boys are looking for one another out there. We managed to get three against a team who doesn't give up many, even against the best teams in our league. It was a "trap" game for us, but the boys did not get tangled in it. Good job gang! Mooretown Tuesday to close out the regular season.
