Mar 01, 2015 | pwtcblack | 437 views
Black Flags Hold On For 3-2 Win Against Red Flags For Second Win Of The Playoffs
It was another back and forth affair and emotions were at
their peak as the two Mooretown teams met for the first of their 2 playoff
meetings in the Tri-County Championship round robin.
The Peewee Championship round in the Tricounty league feature both Mooretown teams setting up a pair of games between the two with the goal of finishing top 2 to advance to the finals. Mooretown Black entered the game with a 1 and 1 record while Mooretown Red fell to West Lorne the night before and came in with a 1-1-1 record. With West Lorne sitting atop the standings with a 5-1 record neither team wanted to suffer their second loss. The Black Flags would be missing Colton Williamson who was still on vacation and Maddie Mesko who was sitting her second of a two game suspension. The Red team would be missing Chloe Plain and would call up Atom white sniper Dylan Dupuis. The game would once again start as an intense defensive battle with very few shots or opportunities through the first 10 minutes of the game. Both Colin Gladwish and Travis Morningstar would make saves when called upon in the first. The Refs seemed quite content to let the two teams settle it on their own and let a lot of chippy play go throughout the game. The Black Flags would strike first as Ryan Nicholson would grab the puck off the opening face-off push straight up the ice and put one home to make it 1-0 just 9 seconds into the second. Mooretown Red would push back but Gladwish made a couple of stellar pad saves to keep his team up by one. Ryan Nicholson would score again with a nice pass from Braden Hunt to make it 2-0 with 5:39 left in the second. But the refs would finally make a call as Colton Beauvais got tangles up with a player and would go to the box for interference. The Red Flags used some nice passing but The Black Flags held them at bay until there was just 11 seconds left in the penalty kill. Brad Aitchison would put the game to within 1 with assists to Carter Hawkins and Noah O’Neil with 43.4 seconds left in the second. The Period would end in a 2-1 lead for the Black Flags. The game continued to get more and more chippy with lots of slashing and rub outs going unnoticed by the officials. Ryan Nicholson would get called for Body contact in a scrum along the boards and again the Black Flags would have to kill off a penalty. This time the penalty killers would get the job done and the game would remain 2-1. Ryan Nicholson would cap off his hat trick with 7:36 left in the third as Lucas Rodey fed him the puck and he deked out a defenseman and the goalie to put the Black Flags up 3-1. It seemed things would go from bad to worse for Mooretown Red as they would get called for body contact and Mooretown Black would go on their only power play of the game. The Power play was just not clicking and it would be Mooretown Red who would score shorthanded as Carter Hawkins intercepted a pass and deked out Keeley McKegan and Colin Gladwish and made it a 1 goal game again. It was time for the fans to buckle up their seat belts for the final 5:20. Mooretown Red would pull the goalie with just under 1:45 left but Mooretown Black kept the shots and opportunities to the outside to hold on for the 3-2 win. Shots on goal in the game according to Maddie Mesko 20-18 for Mooretown Black. It was once again the little things that hurt Mooretown Black on this day as they were unable to clear the puck for long shifts leaving them caught in their own zone and not getting the puck deep and coughing it up at the opposition blue line. But in the end it was a much needed win as the team prepares for 5 games in 10 days. Ryan Nicholson got to tear the logo off the Octopus for his three goal performance. Up next practice Monday and a home date against Wallaceburg 2 on Thursday.