Oct 24, 2017 | Lloyd Williams | 212 views
ANOTHER CLOSE GAME
Well it took 3 games but the opposing team finally managed to put a puck behind the goal line and that was enough to also deliver our first loss of the season. I suspected this would be a hard fought bought after seeing high scores from this Caledonia team against other competitors.
The first period started with fast end to end play and plenty of shots around the net at both ends of the ice, both teams skated hard but the defense was up to the task and kept most of the shots away from the crease..... unfortunately Caledonia was equally successful. Both teams battled along the boards and played well for the balance of the period and the first ended with no score.
In the second period the large rink gave us some trouble as we struggled to clear the puck but Kaiden found a solution as he repeatedly lifted the puck over the opposition in neutral ice, the rest of the D followed suit and used the boards to their advantage as well. We managed a few good shots on net in the second period that led to some nice scoring opportunities in front of the Caledonia net, we just couldn't get a handle on the passes as Caledonia tied up our attackers efficiently. Caledonia took advantage of the larger ice late in the second as they kept the puck inside on every attempt and eventually a blueline turnover followed by a bad bounce made its way over Nolan's glove and into the net.
The third period was exciting with a few more opportunities but as our kids tired Caledonia seemed to pick up speed, they controlled the play for most of the third period but were held off the scoreboard despite outshooting us 8 - 2 in the final period. I'm sure this team will be a worthy rival all season long as both ability and desire to win was obvious from both benches.......... next time could easily be a bounce in our favour that makes the difference.