Dec 30, 2012 | Joe Heinisch | 192 views
Team Allstate Gets Their Shot At The Title
Sunday December 30, 2012
Game Reporter: Jay Nijhuis
This reporter felt quite a bit of nervous energy in the dressing room before the Semi Final Game this afternoon at RIM Park (mostly from the coaches). Coach Joe and Coach Ray spent a few minutes highlighting the things our team did well in the loss yesterday and made sure to point out the things that went wrong. Coach Joe re-iterated that the loss was not because of lack of effort but because of lack of thinking. He told the boys that he believed they could win today if they just got back to using their heads to think about the right plays to make.
Team Allstate Insurance hit the ice for a Semi Final match up with a Kitchener Ranger team that finished 1st overall in Group B. The Boys in Black have some history against the Kitchener Ranger team as they are 1-1 during the regular season against them.
This was a hard fought, back and forth match up that was tied at 0-0 after the first period.
Early in the second, Captain Joe V. picked up a loose puck in the centre ice area and rushed into the Kitchener Ranger zone down the left wing boards. He got off a rising wrist shot that was saved by the Ranger goalie, but Wesley S. was standing on the doorstep to bang in a big rebound to make it 1-0 Team Allstate. A little bit later on Wesley S. also potted the 2nd Team Allstate goal on a breakaway with a beautiful forehand backhand deke. Before the end of the 2nd period, the Kitchener Rangers scored on a rebound after Team Allstate Goaltender Nolan S. made a great first save.
The Team Allstate bench got a little bit nervous starting the 3rd period with a slim one goal lead, especially when they discovered the last period in a semi final game is 15:00 long. The Boys in Black knew that in order to win this game they would need the right mix of hard work, guts, brains, and a no quit attitude. They showed all of those traits in the 3rd period with hard back checks, smart plays off the boards, crisp passing and never quitting on a play.
Laste in the 3rd period, Logan N. picked up a loose puck at centre, all he had to do was cross the red line and dump it down the ice to preserve a win, but he put his head down, dipped his shoulder to hold off two Ranger Players and scored a backhander into the empty net to make the final score 3-1 in favour of Team Allstate Insurance.
The Championship Game goes later tonight, 5:30pm against Team Schlueter Chevrolet (the only team to have beat Team Allstate in this Christmas Tournament) at RIM Park in the Pillers Arena.
Final shots on goal in the semi final were 11-10 in our favour.