Oct 12, 2010 | tmacmillan | 997 views
Jr. Stars drop holiday Monday match vs. Bandits
Game 6 on our schedule had us on the road to London again, this time against the Bandits. A holiday Monday match up saw St. Thomas fall behind 3-0 before struggling to get back in the game. Within a goal, and poised for an exciting finish, a late penalty to the Jr. Stars spoiled our chances and handed London a 4-3 victory.
For the second time in as many games, our players seems to struggle right from the opening face off. Bad luck bounces and our inability to move the puck with confidence resulted a 2-0 lead for London after the 1st. Brett C. made many saves to limit London to 2 and keep us in it.
The Bandits increased their lead to 3-0, 6:00 into the 2nd when a high shot beat Brett C. over the shoulder of his blocking arm. Still struggling, our guys managed few shot at the London goalie until late in the period. With just over 2:00 remaining, Russell O., streaking down the left wing, beat the Bandits' netminder on the short side and put St. Thomas on the scoreboard. Our excitement was short lived as London restored their 3 goal lead just 0:11 later with another rising shot over our goalie's blocking arm.
Miles V. restored life to our bench just over 2:00 minutes into the 3rd with a great solo effort that started at our blue line and ended with the puck behind the London goalie. Although within 2 goals again, we continued to struggle and couldn't build any momentum off this latest goal. Throughout the period both Harrison B. and Brad V. worked hard at both ends of the ice. Defensively to break up several plays that eliminated quality scoring chances for our opponents, as well, several times each seemed to on the verge of an offensive zone attack only to have the puck roll off a stick or get caught up in the maze of skates around them. Our frustrations grew until with just a little over 4:00 remaining, Miles V. tallied again on a goal mouth scramble. We were set for an exciting finish until a holding penalty to Tyler M. with 1:28 remaining in the game gave London all the breathing room they needed to hang on for the 4-3 victory. Although ill timed, Tyler M.'s penalty was indeed a reflection of the frustration felt by the players and coaches all game long.
A tough loss, especially coming off our last two, well played games. This game is proof that each opponent is different and every game has to be fought from the opening face off to the final whistle. Remember boys, although not our best game, we didn't give up, we battled back, managed to get within a goal, and showed our opponents that even on a bad day, we're never out of it.