Coming off a finalist berth in the Mooretown Tournament a weekend ago, the boys hoped to carry their momentum forward into their home and away matches this weekend.
The Dorchester Dragons were first on the list visiting the MSC on Saturday. The AEs had their netminder back to full strength after a nasty bug but were without a d-man so some tinkering occurred with the lines prior to the game.
Beating Dorchester on their own turf a few weeks ago was a nice treat and they hoped to take this one as well to sweep their home and away season matches. However, as the game moved forward it appeared that the sugar-demons from the previous night were still haunting the boys. Throughout the match, the Dragons skated around the Flags who seemed dazed and confused thinking more about candy than what was occurring on the ice. The Flags clung to a tie for most of the game but the Dragons finally capitalized on our teams inattentiveness and lack of intensity taking the game 2-1.
Heading to St Thomas for a late afternoon tilt on Sunday had the parents crossing their fingers that the drive wasn't for nothing. The boys, now with a full roster, needed to shake off their last bad loss and get their heads back on top of their necks if they were going to take one on away ice.
Both teams seemed to be evenly matched as the score would show a 1-1 tie for most the game. The Jr Flags were positioning themselves well and getting shots at the net only to be thwarted numerous times by a hot goalie. Nonetheless, it was obvious that the Halloween hangover had disappeared and the team we all like to watch had showed up to play. Unfortunately though, the Stars snapped two goals home in the final period to make a 3-1 hole for the Flags to dig out of. Not giving up, they did just that. In the dying minutes, some pressure in the opposing zone resulted in a goal to narrow the gap and make it a 3-2 game. With close to a minute left, Sterling would hit the bench in favour of an extra attacker with a faceoff in the St Thomas end. With six attackers ready to crash the net, patience and pressure paid off with the tying goal hitting the twine to tie it up. In the dying seconds, Mooretown kept the pedal down but just couldn't complete a chance to take the W.
Although the Flags couldn't scoop up the coveted two points in the standings, it was a good lesson for the lads to learn about determination and never giving up. The boys never let their chins drop when they were down two goals but instead dug deep and came away with something to be proud of.
The Jr Flags will get a practice in on Tuesday prior to hopping on the team bus for a trip to a spot that Stompin' Tom called
Tillsonburg for a showdown with Petrolia to open their appearance in the Bob Teasley Memorial Tournament.
Go Flags!