For the PeeWee Stars this weekend, the effort was clearly there. The results....not so much. The Stars showed a great deal of heart this weekend and certainly deserved a better fate. However, a lack of scoring and some good goaltending by Riverside proved to be a lethal combination that the Stars could not overcome.
Already down four points in the series, the Stars travelled to Riverside for games three and four at the new WFCU Arena. In game one, the Stars dominated play for much of the game and created several glorious scoring opportunities. Only some outstanding goaltending by Riverside netminder Josh Breault kept the Stars from dominating on the scoreboard as well.
However, after a scoreless first period, Riverside grabbed the lead in the second period thanks to a tag-team of errors by the Tottle boys. In the absence of Dane Jacoletti, Jesse Tottle returned to his roots and played defense for the first time in years. Understandably looking a little uneasy with the position, Jesse was caught being the last man back with the puck in the defensive zone and was promptly knocked on his keester by a solid Riverside bodycheck. That allowed Tim Stachl to pick up the loose puck and float an off-speed, twenty foot wobbler of a wrist shot toward the Stars goal. The normally sure-handed Rogie juggled the shot off the edge of his trapper, allowing the puck to trickle over the goal line for a 1-0 Riverside lead going into the third period.
The Stars tied the game with a power play goal three minutes into the third period. Jesse Tottle and Isaac Robinson worked a beautiful give-and-go play from Jesse's office behind the Riverside net, as Isaac slammed the return pass between Breault's pads to tie the score at 1-1.
The Stars had numerous opportunities to win the game in regulation as well as overtime, including a rocket from Matty Thomson as time ran out, but simply could not capitalize and the game ended in a 1-1 deadlock.
On Sunday, the Stars opening the contest with a flourish. Early in the first period before many of the fans had found their seats, Andrew Baxter demonstrated how fast he can be as he raced up the right boards and sped past a Riverside defender. Driving to the net from his off-wing, Andrew quickly shifted the puck to his forehand and flipped a shot past a startled Josh Breault for a 1-0 lead.
The Stars lead was short-lived however, as only a few minutes later, Riverside was credited with a goal on a highly controversial scrambled play in front of the Stars net. Rogie Tottle, Zach Smith and other Stars on the ice at the time will swear on Dit Clapper's grave that the puck never actually crossed the goal line. Despite their articulate protestations to the officials, the goal was allowed to stand and the game remained tied at 1-1 going into the second period.
A power play goal and give away put the Stars behind the eight ball trailing 3-1 going into the third period. With just over four minutes to play in the game, Jesse Tottle made another picturesque pass from behind the goal line to Derek Smith. Displaying the patience and composure of a true goal-scorer, rare and elusive traits for Star forwards, Smitty sniped a wrist shot into the far bottom corner to narrow the score 3-2 and keep the Stars' hopes alive.
Unfortunately, with just over two minutes remaining and a pile of bodies from both teams laying on the ice in front of the Stars net, the play was whistled dead. Incredibly in this writer's opinion, T.J. Turley was somehow singled out by the officials as the only player deserving of a minor penalty, effectively dashing the Stars aspirations of a comeback.
While every member of the Stars played with inspired determination this weekend, Matty Thomson and Josh Reda were heroic in their efforts. Derek Smith also deserves special recognition for his play at both ends of the rink. The bottom line is that six goals in four games was simply not enough to win. While the result was extremely disappointing, the desire, heart and intensity displayed by the Stars this weekend was anything but.
Until next time...keep your stick on the ice, cover the short side and don't get deked.