"GO BLUE... I MEAN ORANGE!": Semi-finals vs. Port Credit
With their win in Saturday morning’s game, the ATOMc Blue Fireballs had earned themselves a lengthy rest. Their first game of the day had concluded at 9:30, and they weren’t due to begin playing their semi-final match until 5:00 that afternoon. While some of the players relaxed in their hotel rooms, many went swimming or played mini-sticks with their teammates. Needless to say, everyone enjoyed the break!
At the end of the round robin
games, ATOMc Blue had finished first in their division by remaining undefeated over
the course of their three games. The
Cambridge Flyers and the Meadowvale Hawks filled the second and third spots,
respectively, each with two wins and one loss, while Port Credit 52 finished
fourth, with one win, one loss and one tie.
As the Fireballs had faced all three of these teams in their earlier
games, they had travelled a hard road to get to this point, but had reached
this moment in their journey successfully.
At 4:00, the Fireballs converged
on Argyle Arena for their semi-final game, during which they would be playing
Port Credit 52, the first team they had met in the tournament. They had been formidable foes when the teams
had played three games ago, and they would likely be even tougher this time.
One difference between the two
teams was obvious as soon as they took to the ice: whereas Port Credit had
donned their alternate white jerseys for the first game, they were now wearing
their stylish blue uniforms, while the Fireballs, somewhat appropriately, were
wearing ATOMc Orange colours. Calder W.,
the team’s loudest cheerleader on the bench, had difficulties adjusting to this
change: “GO BLUE… I MEAN ORANGE!!!”
As soon as the game got
underway, Port Credit pounced on the puck and began a strong series of attacks
upon Luke C. in the Fireballs’ net.
Because of this unrelenting assault, Blue’s goaltending, defence and
back-checking had to be perfect in the first period… and they nearly were!
In the first few minutes of
play, Port Credit swarmed around the Fireballs’ crease like moths around a
flame, and their players set up effectively around Luke C. in net. Calder W. was doing his job in the corner, as
he took on the task of attempting to steal the puck away from both the opposing
team’s winger and centerman at the same time.
One of the players evaded Calder’s reach for a split-second and passed
the puck out front to his linemate who was poised and waiting to one-time a
shot into the back of the net, but Tony R. was ready for him and stretched his
stick out to intercept the pass and break up the scoring attempt.
Mere moments later, another
opportunity arose for Port Credit, and Luke C. found four opposing players
bearing in on him with his teammates in hot pursuit. Luke stood tall to challenge the rush and
followed the puck as it traveled from one player to another before saving a
hard, rising shot by blocking it with his chest protector and smothering it to
stop the play.
Despite all of the play in
Waterloo’s end, there were a number of scoring opportunities in Port Credit’s
end, as well. The Orange defenders had
many opportunities to show off their strong shooting skills this game. One of the first examples came when Carson A.
received the puck at the point when a Blue winger tried to clear the zone. Carson looked up to evaluate the situation
before making the wise decision of shooting the puck solidly towards the
net. Although the goalie saved this
shot, Jackson M. nearly picked up the rebound and almost put his team ahead to
conclude this very exciting scoring opportunity.
Despite the fantastic effort by
each of the Fireballs’ players, Port Credit took advantage of an opportunity
that arose due to their hard work and excellent positioning to bury the puck in
the Waterloo net and give themselves a one goal lead with just over two minutes
remaining in the period.
However, the Fireballs refused
to give up, and they charged ahead before the buzzer sounded to end the
period. Josh R. had a great scoring
opportunity from the point that nearly found its way into the top corner of
Port Credit’s net, but alternately served the purpose of giving his team’s
forwards an extended opportunity to even the score.
With mere seconds remaining in
the period, Riley D. nearly tied the game when he used his speed to steal the
puck from the opposing team’s goalie before he could cover it and passed it to
Ryan S. on the open side of the net.
However, Port Credit’s defenders were fast too, and tied Ryan up before
he had the opportunity to even the score.
The Fireballs refused to give up
as the second period got underway, and their efforts earned them a number of
early scoring opportunities. For
example, Mason D.’s smooth skating and stick-handling nearly benefitted his
team for the millionth time as he moved quickly and powerfully towards the
opposition’s end, but an offside call prematurely ended the threat, much to the
relief of the Port Credit coaches, no doubt.
However, Waterloo continued to
apply pressure, and their labours were soon rewarded. Jett S. picked up a loose puck in the neutral
zone and carried it over Port Credit’s blue line surrounded by players
attempting to check him aggressively. He
was soon joined by his linemates, Lucas B. and Jackson M., who were just as
responsible for this goal, as they caused the swarm around Jett to disperse a
little to cover his wingers, giving Jett more room to move. The Fireballs’ puck-handler used this space
to swoop towards the net and shoot it from a sharp angle into the mess of legs
and skates in front of the net. In the
end, the whistle blew with the puck in the back of the net, and the players
celebrated a goal to even the score.
The Fireballs weren’t done
yet! The go-ahead goal came thirty
seconds later and started as a break out play from Waterloo’s own end, as Tony
R. cleared the puck out of his zone and on to Jackson M.’s stick. Jackson carried it quickly through the
neutral zone, drawing several Blue players towards him before dishing the puck
off to a streaking Jett S. Jett turned
on the jets and left his opposition in the proverbial dust, as he cut towards
the crease and tucked the puck neatly between the goaltender’s pads and into
the back of the net. With this goal, the
Fireballs took the lead, 2-1.
The remainder of the period
displayed aggressive hockey by both teams, and all of the Waterloo players
chipped in to maintain the one goal advantage.
On defence, the five blue-liners were calm and collected as they did
their job, despite their very different approaches to the position. Carson used his lengthy reach to poke check
the puck off opposing players’ sticks before they got too close to Luke C. in
net, while Mason D. and Josh R. used their positioning and strong skating to
redirect play to the corners where it posed little threat. Along the boards and behind the net were
where Tony R.’s and Calder W.’s aggressive style overwhelmed the Port Credit
players and moved the puck up the boards and out of the zone. Each of the five played the game very
differently, but each knew his own strengths and used them effectively to help
maintain the lead.
While, Waterloo was playing
their game strongly, so was Port Credit, and tension on the Fireballs’ bench
increased dramatically when, less than fifteen seconds into the third period,
Blue evened the score on a play that highlighted their strong skating and
excellent teamwork. However, cheering
from parents in the stands and motivation from their coaches and teammates on
the bench kept the home team’s spirits up, and they pushed ahead as the period
continued.
At one point early in the
period, the Fireballs had a moment of jubilation followed by disappointment,
when one of their goals was called back.
However, this just fuelled Waterloo’s fire even more, and the boys ended
up evening the score minutes later when, with just under five minutes remaining
in the game, Mason D. passed the puck out of the defensive zone to Sam Z. who
moved it ahead to James R. James carried
the puck towards the net, and he, Sam and Halen R. all ended up around the Blue
goaltender as the puck bounced around in the crease. Eventually, Sam got his stick on the puck and
planted it in the back of the net to make the score 3-2 for Waterloo!
Taking advantage of the energy
and excitement generated by the previous goal, the Fireballs surged ahead and
ended up giving themselves some insurance less than one minute later. A Waterloo defender had dumped the puck out
of the defensive zone and it slid quickly down the ice with a Port Credit
player chasing it. However, Riley D.
would not be satisfied with an icing call that would have the puck return to
his own defensive end, and he took off after the puck and the opposing
player. By the time all three reached
the Blue goal line, Riley had surpassed the speedy Port Credit defender to pick
up the puck first. Before the netminder was aware of it, Riley
wrapped the puck around the net and tucked it neat in the opposite corner.
Now it was a matter of playing
strong defensive hockey to hold on to the two goal lead. The forwards
back-checked relentlessly, including Matthew M., who both skated hard into the
defensive zone to check the Port Credit players and positioned himself
effectively on the boards to help his team get the puck out over the blue line
and down the ice. On defence, Calder W.
made an exceptional play, when he chased down two Blue players as they rushed
towards Luke C. on a two-man breakaway.
He tied up the puck carrier and directed the play off to the side and
away from harm in a very dramatic and exciting play that earned cheers and
applause from fans in the audience.
As the scorekeeper announced the
final minute of play, energy on the bench increased and continued to build as
the clock ticked on. To defeat such an
excellent team as Port Credit, not once, but twice, was incredibly exciting and
said a lot about how well the ATOMc Fireballs had been playing. They were at their peak, and a tournament
victory was in sight, as they celebrated their semi-final victory by gathering
around Luke C. when the buzzer announced the end of the game.
The job of selecting a Player of
the Game was as difficult as ever for the coaches, but Tony R. earned this
game’s award for his solid defensive efforts on the blue line. The boys had played one of their best games
of the season, and it earned them a position in tomorrow’s tournament
championship game. It would be played
against the team whose semi-final victory would be determined fifteen minutes
after the conclusion of the match between Port Credit and Waterloo.
Great game today, boys! Go enjoy a restful evening at the hotel, but
get lots of sleep so you’ll be ready for tomorrow morning’s big game!