Mar 04, 2012 | jjohnston | 1186 views
Shamrock Semis GM1
Our Atom AE Stars opened their semi final series against the Lambton Shores Predators Sunday at the Timken Centre. First team to 6 pts wins, so we were hoping not to dig ourselves the far too common "hole" we have experienced in the OMHA playdowns and in the Shamrock quarters. The boys took advantage of the home ice and cruised to a dominating 8-1 win.
Of course, the game was not completely stress free, as we gave up the first goal 2 minutes in on a shot that hit a skate and squeaked through Rhett Devrie's legs. I can't remember the last time we scored first in a game, but today that is all Rhett would surrender, as he and our defence regrouped and kept the Predators to the outside almost all game long. The flood gates opened up for us halfway through the first when Tyler Johnston ripped one five hole, after Owen Wookey passed it up the middle to Jared Parkin and on to Ty for the breakaway. One minute later Darryn Olyschlager scored from a difficult angle at the side of the net, assisted by Coleton Robison-Sareh and Lucas Glanville. We got our third 45 seconds later when Tyler and Alex Burgess stripped the puck in the neutral zone and Alex chipped the puck up to Carter Stephens. He used every bit of his speed to pull away from the Lambton defence and made no mistake on his breakaway. Darryn got his second of the period with just 17 seconds left off a scrambled draw by Coleton, where he walked around the opposing centre and fired high over the keeper's glove. It was a fantastic five minute span by our boys, as we had a secure 4-1 lead going to the second.
Tyler got his second on a very similar goal to his first, but this time assisted by Talbot Carrie, and Darryn would complete his hat trick, assisted by Coleton and Owen to increase our lead by two in the second. Darryn was not done yet as he lit the lamp again with his fourth, assisted by Carter, and then Mile Ostojic did his best Bobby Orr impression late in the game when he grabbed the puck in our own end, deked out half of our team and all of the Predators to put himself in alone where he finished off one heck of a rush with a nice shot to beat the goalie. It ended there at 8-1, which was our largest margin of victory all year.
Hopefully the boys can buck the trend of one good game, one bad game Wednesday night when we head to Thedford for game 2. This one did wonders for our confidence, at a time when we really needed it. Let's keep it rolling, no more steps backwards. Great job boys!