After back-to-back 4 to 1 loses to the London Jr Knights,
the Waterloo Wolves faced elimination and fought their way to a thrilling 2 to
1 victory to bring the team within a game to even the series.
In their most complete team game of the season the Wolves
proved not only that they can beat the Knights but that they are capable of
being the superior team.
With the return of Cole Hunsberger to the line up the Wolves
power play came alive with Jake Patterson tying the game from Evan Wallace and
Hunsberger and then Hunsberger scoring the game winner on the powerplay from
Wallace.
Drew Cribbin was a rock in the Wolves net and battled hard
for his team. Cribbin returned to the Western Fair arena after suffering a game
1 defeat and was able to adjust to the poor ice and much too easy to knock off
goal posts. Cribbin was fantastic in the game and controlled the play.
In fact, Sam Miller was also great for his team in game 2
despite the score. Miller made the saves he could see and was sharp, but it
seemed like every mistake his teammates made resulted in prime scoring opportunities.
Well, that puck luck might have swapped teams.
In game one the Wolves lone goal scorer was also on the
powerplay, Evan Walsh scored from Riley Webster and Hunsberger. And game two
saw Jack Mayne score from Griffin Beddis. To date, the goals have been hard to
come by for the Wolves but there is a sense in the room this is not as
troubling a situation as they might have thought.
The Wolves have come up with a new urgency and desire to
grind out the game and win the battles in front of their net and along the
boards. Their captain, Matthew Ball, set the tone early with a big play along
the boards. Cole Ledgister jumped right in and continued the trend hitting
anyone in his path. Hunter McMurdo and Ethan Wasylyshyn put together aggressive
shift after aggressive shift and Ben Morton continued to step up and be a spark
plug.
This series will be won by the team that puts in the effort to
win the 50/50 pucks, control possession and pays attention to the defensive
zone. The Wolves have had Jackson McNichol and Jordan Abbott control the net
area extremely well. Jack Smith has played a hard-nosed game in front as well. It
will be the play in the trenches that determines the winner.
Up next the Wolves will look to draw even at home on Friday
night. It is still an uphill battle, but the players have shown a lot of
courage and fight and will not go down without a fight.
Go Wolves!!!