The Hiller Realty Minor Peewee Rep Warriors were in action Sunday afternoon at the Allman arena against the Cambridge Hawks. Our record this season against them was 2 wins and 1 loss.
The game started and the fans were a little confused until they figured out that we were missing a defenseman and #7 Danny Van Straaten was playing in his spot. Ryan Haines, a callup from the Major Atom Rep team was wearing #2 as a forward. Once we figured this out, we started paying attention to the game just in time to see Haines and Owen Holloway get the puck to Kaden Brame for an early goal! We were winning 1-0. Lucas Jacklin in net faced a lot of pressure as Cambridge tried to tie it up but he made solid saves to deny them. Hayden White-Roy had a good shot on net and a loose puck gave us a chance for a 2 goal lead. Van Straaten was up to his old tricks as a forward and took up the puck with a great scoring chance on net. The Hawks got one in and the period ended 1-1.
Luke Zorgdrager blocked a shot to start the second period and a Hawks shot rang off the crossbar. Avery Thurston hustled hard to break up a Cambridge play. Jared Gould was setting up Jake Heinbuch in front of the net multiple times and we knew one of them was going to find it’s way home. Jacklin made a huge glove save but the Hawks kept coming and scored to make it 2-1. Brame tried to get it right back with a shot from the blue line and Haines was in good position for the rebound. Thomas Sheldon was breaking up odd man rushes and forcing the Hawks to make wide shots. Aidan Benton helped the defense and made a great play in front of our net then got into Hawks territory. Around this time the fans noticed something very abnormal in the Warriors net – 2 extra pucks floating around Jacklin’s feet. No idea where those came from! The refs noticed them too and promptly got them out of there.
The line of Sam Jeffrey, Heinbuch and Gould were going full force the whole game. They worked so hard to set up shots and the Gould – Heinbuch combo payed off with a goal by Heinbuch! The score was 3-2 with 8 minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, Stratford got a penalty for too many men on the ice and we were on the penalty kill. Wes Duiker played hard and skated fast on the penalty kill. Holloway and Cole Meadows gave the Hawks heavy shorthanded offensive pressure for two minutes. Luke Heisz kept the puck in the Hawks end over and over to give us a chance to tie it up. The Warriors had picked up on this goalie’s weak spot – down low -- and were shooting the puck there time after time. The boys were on fire and it felt more like we were on a power play then shorthanded. A time out was called after Jacklin had an amazing save. Fans were cheering loudly as the Warriors went on the ice with 6 skaters and Jacklin pulled. Shots on net continued but the big Hawks goalie kept them all out. Another time out with 27 seconds left and the Warriors kept working right til the final buzzer. Final score 3-2.