11-12 Atom AE ('01-'02) - OMHA Playdowns
The Atom AE Stars played the first two games of our round robin preliminary round this weekend. There were highs and lows, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, from the outhouse to the penthouse, a tale of two cities, need I go on?
We started on Saturday with a long drive to Harrow to play the Erie Northshore Storm. I think it is safe to say that we didn't travel well. The boys lost 5-0, in a game that gave me flashbacks to the first month of the season. No energy, no drive, no show. If there had been a trap door behind the bench I would have crawled into it. It took until the third period before we realized that we were playing a hockey game. Our team has made some pretty good strides this season, and it felt like we had erased them all in one foul swoop. I'm not sure if it was the travel or the nerves, but for some reason we did not show up. Our performance made for a long drive home, pondering what went sooo terribly wrong, and if we would be able to recover for the game Sunday against the Southpoint Capitals.
This was certainly a must win game for us after the hole we dug for ourselves the day before, and to the boys credit they responded brilliantly. Luckily, they were able to put the last game behind them, much easier than I could, and played one of our most complete games of the season. We dominated from start to finish, and Markus Thompson earned another shutout in a 5-0 victory. Everybody skated, everybody did their job, and the result was dramatically different.
Our Stars got it started quickly when Mason Myrick kept the puck in at the point and fired a hard shot that the goalie could not handle. Lucas Glanville was in perfect position in front of the net to bang in the garbage, and to me garbage has never smelled so good. Imagine that, when we go to the net, we get a goal! It's amazing how that works! We added another 3 minutes later when Coleton Robison-Sareh picked up a clear from Sammy Mogk and drove wide to the net. His backhander slid between the keeper's pads, to seal a very good bounce back first period.
Jared Parkin added to the lead early in the second when he found himself alone in front of the Capital's net. A great forechecking shift allowed Ethan Bradley to chip the puck to him, and he promptly spun and buried it. Coleton would add another assisted by Carter Stephens before the end of the period, to give us a secure 4-0 lead heading into the third. Coleton finished his hat-trick on a nice one-timer from the slot off a perfect pass from Darryn O. It was probably one of our prettiest goals of the year, to top off one of our prettiest games of the year.
Oh, the ups and downs of minor hockey, isn't it great. In a 24hr span we went from a real low to a real high, and it is a credit to our kid's character and resiliency all year that no matter what happens, tomorrow is just another GAME. We have put ourselves in the position of having to win our next 2 games two weekends from now to have a chance to move on. Hopefully Sunday's team will show up to both matches, and Saturday's gang is gone for good. Good job on SUNDAY boys!
