Feb 10, 2016 | Steve Fogarty | 736 views
Mustangs Complete The Sweep
Grand River hit the road Tuesday evening with a chance to wrap up their first round series versus the Wilmot Wolverines.
Wilmot would be keen to stave off elimination and it didn't take long for them to get on the board. Three and a half minutes in, their strongest player #7 roofed one top shelf to give the home town team the lead. It was the reminder the Mustangs needed, what their defensive responsibilities are and the positional play that's reuired to move on in the playoffs. The girls regrouped and finished off the period down by a goal.
With the start of second brought a more aggressive Mustangs team, and when we fore check we get goals. A minute in, Rowdy buried the equalizer from the slot to even up the score one a piece. The second continued to be a back and forth game with each team getting chances and both tenders doing their job.
Just as they done in the second, the Mustangs came out firing to start the third. In the Wolverine zone, Jennie threaded a beauty pass over Erika at the point, which Van B quickly ripped into the net glove side to give the Stangs their first lead of the game. As the time ticked down, the game became more physical, where body checking/interference became part of the play. Not a bunch to shy away from contact, the Mustangs thrived on the physical play holding off the Wilmot attacks. The physicality caught up with the road team as Mr.Magoo Mr.Referee called Allie for the trip with 14 seconds to go. Two timeouts later, both teams were set for the faceoff in the Grand River zone. The girls held strong despite being out numbered 6-4 and kept the puck to the boards to kill the clock and win 2-1.
Great character game for the ladies as they got down early and had to battle back against a tough Wilmot team, some home town discounts from the local officials and a scoreboard that just happened to go a little weird after we scored our second goal. Regardless, they worked hard in practice leading up to the game and it paid off with the first round sweep.
Enjoy your success ladies, we will be back at work Saturday preparing for the Rams.