Apr 06, 2015 | Steve Fogarty | 785 views
Lower Lakes Championship Weekend
After eliminating the "Yawn" Flames in the third round of league playoffs, the girls headed to Oshawa with a shot at the title at the Lower Lakes Championship Weekend.
Game #1
Right out of the gate the girls took on the West Division champs, South Huron Sabres. The first period was even in shots but ended with a 1-0 lead for the Sabres as they scored on the power play to take an early lead. The second followed the same pattern of equal number shots per team, but the Sabres were having success with getting in close to the net. With the start of the third, the Mustangs turned it up firing 5 shots on goal within the first minute of play. That momentum was killed as the Sabres top scorer picked the Mustangs pocket burying South Huron's second goal of the game and building a 2-0 lead. With less than 4 minutes to go, Frannie walked out from behind the net and banked a shot off the goalie and in to get the Stangs on the board. The girls pushed for the equalizer but ran out of time, dropping the opener 2-1.
Game #2
The second game of the day was against the South Central Champs, Stoney Creek. The girls played Stoney Creek twice back in January in Cambridge, the last game being decided via shootout. The girls played their best hockey that day and would need to duplicate that effort in order to pick up a much needed win to maintain a chance at the gold. Stoney came out strong and took it to the Mustangs, keeping the girls hemmed in their own end for the majority of the first. When the first period was over the Mustangs were down 2-0 as the game was becoming increasingly physical as the officiating seemed to be loosing a grip on the play on the ice. By the end of the second it was 3-0 Stoney Creek. The third continued the rough play with players from both sides suffering injury due to the style of the game that was being played. When the final whistle blew it was a 4-0 loss for the Mustangs and a season low 6 shots on the Stoney Creek net.
Game #3
After the loss from the night before, the Mustangs already had their spot in the Bronze Medal game vs the Belleville Bearcats, the same team they would play in game #3. Although holding the edge in shots, the Mustangs had 3 power play goals against and dropped another consecutive 4-0 decision.
Game #4
After three games in the books, the girls had a repeat match with the East Division Champs Belleville Bearcats Saturday evening. Although down early the girls battled back and with five minutes to play in the game, Jess buried her first of the tournament in traffic to knot up the score at 1-1. With regular time leaving it undecided, we were heading to OT to decide the medal. This would be the fourth straight tournament medal game for the Mustangs this year. With three minutes left, Belleville's size prevailed as they scored on their fifth shot of the extra session to take the bronze. Score aside, it was a good game to be part of and even better to see the ladies come out and play the brand of hockey that made them successful all year.