Jan 22, 2018 | Ken Stark | 929 views
Novice Gold Remains Undefeated in Playoff Round
On Sunday, Novice Gold returned to league play with a big win over their arch-rival Kitchener Red to reclaim first place in the playoff round.
After two tough losses in the Silver Stick Finals tournament, the Novice Gold Wolves looked to continue their strong team defensive play, while opening up their offense against tough opponents.
With Kitchener Red in town, the Wolves came out strong in the first period with an aggressive fore check and a deny defense. Eventually, Hunter C. would give the Wolves a 1-0 lead by banging in a rebound from a Wyatt M. blast in what was one of the Wolves best periods of the season.
The Wolves would start the second period with the same effort and saw early rewards as Colten T. and Liam C. crashed and banged away until Cam M. made it 2-0. The Wolves however took their foot of the gas after this and Kitchener took advantage. On two occasions, Red Rangers would work themselves wide open in front of the Wolves net and slam one-timed feeds into the back of the net to draw the game 2-2 heading into the third.
The Wolves would battle back as Rohan J. stuffed a Colten T. rebound blast for a 3-2 lead 5 minutes into the thrid. With under four minutes left, Kitchener got a lucky break as a blind Ranger pass deflected off a Wolves skate past the wall Boyd S. had started to form around his net. Rather than feel sorry for themselves, the Wolves did a gut check, went back to work and drew a penalty while on the attack. On the resulting power play, Ryder H. would battle here, there, and everywhere to restore the lead with 2:14 left to play. The Wolves would shut the door, a hang on for the 4-3 win in a playoff type atmosphere.
The Wolves face Woodstock and Brantford next.