Jan 08, 2012 | stottle | 959 views
Stars Overcome Obstacles to Down the Rangers
The St. Thomas Bantam Jr. Stars had several excuses for losing their game against the Kitchener Jr. Rangers on Saturday afternoon at the Timken Centre. They had just arrived home exhausted the previous evening from an incredible European tour; they were missing four key players due to suspension or injury; and they were soundly thrashed by the Jr. Rangers in their prior meeting. Even one of their own players posted a comment on Facebook that he expected the Jr. Stars to lose by a wide margin. However, all that didn't matter to the ten players who actually played the game. They were able to overcome all the apparent reasons to lose, and were duly rewarded for a gusty, determined effort with a 4-2 victory over the Kitchener Jr. Rangers.
Employing a tight, conservative defensive system from the opening face off, the Jr. Stars were able to conserve some of their energy which would typically be used in forechecking. That allowed the Stars an opportunity to compete physically with the Rangers for most of the game, although the opening ten minutes of the third period was a struggle as the Stars were forced to play with eight or nine skaters.
Derek Folkard opened the scoring for the Stars with just over three minutes remaining in the first period. Jesse Tottle ragged the puck in the Ranger zone long enough to allow time for his linemates join the play. A backhand pass to a streaking Derek Smith eventually landed on the stick of Derek Folkard. Folksy made no mistake with a nifty move to the stick side of Rangers goaltender Ryan Porter before depositing the puck into a yawning cage for a 1-0 Stars lead.
Unfortunately, the Rangers tied the score with only 19 seconds to play in the first period. Nonetheless, a decent period of hockey for the shorthanded Stars.
The Jr. Stars regained the lead midway through the second period with a dazzling effort that has to be considered a front runner for Play of the Year honours. Michael McArthur started the play with a short pass just outside the Ranger blue line to send Pierce Lawrence in on a two-on-one break with T.J. Turley. Pierce faked a snap shot to freeze the Ranger defender before saucing a sweet pass over to Turley. Netminder Porter slid across to block the anticipated Turley shot just as T.J. returned the favour back to Pierce for the slam dunk. The highlight reel goal was a treat to watch for their fans and gave the Stars a 2-1 lead.
Zach Smith gave the Stars a 3-1 lead at 3:42 of the second period. While on the power play, Zach took a feed along the left side boards and attacked the Ranger net. With Pierce Lawrence setting a perfect screen, Smitty lasered a twenty foot wrist shot which found a hole under Porter's right armpit.
It was deja vu all over again as the Rangers scored in the last minute of the period again to make the score 3-2 heading into the second period intermission. To make matters worse, Pierce Lawrence was assessed a minor for cross-checking as the buzzer sounded and then handed a misconduct for "showing up" an official. That unnecessary play forced the Stars to play with four forwards for the first two minutes of the period and five forwards for the first ten minutes.
Derek Folkard scored his second of the game at 4:22 of the third period off a brilliant goalmouth pass from Isaac Robinson to cap off a two-on-one break and cement a 4-2 tremendous victory for the Stars.
Brennan Agius made several good saves to preserve the win.
Game Notes: All Stars players battled well under the circumstances, but Alex Sanders put in an exceptional effort...in case anyone hasn't noticed, our goaltenders playing the puck is still a work-in-progress....by all accounts, the European tour lived up to everyone's expectations....Moore Sports Group did a fabulous job in balancing the sightseeing, hockey, travel, and other events to create a trip filled with memories.....its difficult to imaging a 12 day trip with that many people involved seemingly going by in a flash, but that was the sentiment of many players....whether it was their experience with the billet family, the Czech professional game, the incredible architecture, the skiing, the fireworks, the concentration camp experience, New Years eve in the Pilzen city square, or the hockey games, everyone finished the tour with many lifelong memories.....During the trip, T.J. Turley clearly emerged as the Stars self-appointed "best player".....and his play is living up to the name....by the way, European euchre can be expensive....until next time, keep your stick on the ice and keep reaching for the Stars.