After a great weekend tourney in Pickering resulting in some silver bling for the Peewee Stangs, it was time to get back to Provincial Playdowns. Game #3 saw the girls driving down Hwy 6 for a date with the Guelph Gryphons.
The week away from playing was evident as the road team Mustangs came out slow defensively, giving up multiple breakaways and odd man rushes. Cue Texas Ranger as she stood tall kicking out biscuits and most importantly, giving Grand River a chance to get their feet moving. Halfway through the first the Mustangs got the offense going. Mo scored two goals in 25 seconds to give the Mustangs a quick lead. Mackie joined the party two minutes later to make it 3-0, causing Guelph to call a timeout to settle their team down. It worked as Guelph cut the lead to 3-1 before the end of the first.
The second period was back and forth until Guelph completed the comeback with two rapid goals of their own to knot it up at 3-3. As it was all game, momentum shifted from one team to another. This time it was Hartzy's turn to take it back for the Stangs. With her breakaway attempt stopped, she stayed with the play and buried her own rebound to put the road team back in the lead 4-3.
The 4-3 lead would carry over into the third period and despite some nervous moments at the end, Grand River hung on for the win. With the win in their pockets, the Mustangs clinched a spot in the Provincial Tournament in April. Burnzie picked up the player of the game for her strong work on the boards and the fore check.
As they have done all season, the girls learned from previous adversity to get stronger. With one more game to go in Playdowns the girls have a month to prepare for the big dance. Knowing the worth ethic they bring to tournament play, they are not going to simply take part, they are going there to put in work.