It took 23 games for the Waterloo Wolves
to have the taste of defeat, and it is flavor that surely will fuel the team’s
next win streak.
A questionable call disallowing a goal
caused the Wolves to take a penalty and it ended up costing the team the game
as the London Jr Knights Green took advantage and broke the 1 to 1 tie with a
pair of powerplay goals winning 3 to 2.
To be fair, the Wolves were not the
Wolves most of the night. Perhaps from the onset of a virus that made Reed
Rozema unavailable, or from half the team playing in their second game of the
day, or perhaps fatigue after a weekend in Buffalo winning the outdoor Classic.
Regardless of the excuses, the Wolves
run will have to start over. In the past 10 games the team ranked first in
Ontario and has built the groundwork for more success.
There was no question Jake Howard
came to play, and the result might not have been as close had he not played so
tremendously. Howard was dialed in and carried his team for stretches of play.
The Wolves’ first goal was scored by
either Keegan Weatherdon or Jacob Shaughnessy and assisted by Connor Wilson.
The two Wolves both swung at the loose puck in the crease causing it to go in
but neither player was certain who should be credited. Interestingly, Wilson scored
the second goal from Ben Morton and Weatherdon, but he wasn’t sure the puck
went in until Morton credited him either.
It appears there were a lot of missed
plays on the ice all night but those were the only two from the players in the
game.
With Rozema missing the team moved
Ethan Kralik to the wing with Allan Wang and Casey Ross joined a line with Jack
Mayne leaving Morton and Shaughnessy double shifting at center. Fortunately, the
team had all its defenders, and each pair remained the same keeping Jack Smith and
Owen Miloje, Jack Gardner and Christopher Ding and Evan Walsh and Logan Murtha together.
The Wolves will enjoy a much-needed
weekend away from the rink and get healthy and recharged followed by a couple
practices to get back to the basics and back on track!
Go Wolves.