Dec 20, 2017 | Steve Fogarty | 304 views
Iron Sharpens Iron
To say the LLFHL Central West loop that the Grand River Bantam BB Mustangs play in is tough would be bit of an understatement.
• Six of the eight teams are ranked in the top 13 teams in the province.
• There is a 3 point difference between second place and sixth.
• Grand River has been listed as having the toughest schedule to date in the province.
Going into the weekend Grand River would be put to the test as they had back to back games against the #1 (Woolwich) and the #2 (Cambridge) teams in the province. The Mustangs have played in two tournaments this year and have only lost two games, one to Cambridge in Niagara Falls and the second was to Woolwich in the gold medal game in the Waterloo Fall Challenge.
Woolwich Wild
Saturday the girls played a late morning matchup against the Woolwich Wild. This would be the fourth meeting this year, with the Wild holding the series edge 2-1. If the provincial rankings were meant to intimidate the Stangs, it didn’t. Playing their typical physical / high forecheck game, Grand River controlled the majority of the game and took a 1-1 tie late in the game with a goal from the “Legend”. With 3:04 left to play the Wild powered through and scored the go ahead goal, setting the scene for the dramatic 3 minute finale. Unfortunately, the drama was not be as the game was called because of curfew 43 seconds after the goal. So with 2:21 left on the clock, the game was ended and the opportunity to make a comeback was taken away from Grand River. The rematch is set for Dec 21 and there will be NO early stoppages in this game.
Cambridge Roadrunners
Not happy with the result from the previous day, Grand River didn’t have time to feel sorry for themselves as Sunday brought the Cambridge Roadrunners to the Corral. The Mustangs picked right up were they left off the day before. Scoreless after the first, Kai Donaldson (as she has done so many times this year) put the team on her back and simply outworked Cambridge defenders to bury two goals in the second. Throw in some solid goaltending from Cobi and the Stangs came away with the 2-1 win and pick up a huge two points to move up in the standings.