Coming into this weekend with just nine games to go before the SCTA Qualifier Tournament starting on March 11th, the Squire John’s Minor Bantams still had a slim chance of catching up with the Bulldogs for second place, but they would need to earn every point they could get to do it. This weekend they played the Burlington Eagles and the team they are chasing, the Hamilton Bulldogs. A win against the Bulldogs would go a long way towards achieving that goal...
The weekend started with a game against the Eagles on Saturday at the Central Arena in Burlington. After the 2-2 tie with the Eagles last week, the Highlanders were hoping to improve on that result and they started work on obtaining the W early.
Just over three minutes into the game, Jamison Buck (Collingwood) threw a long stretch pass to send Logan Davidson (Creemore) on a one-on-one. Davidson went outside-inside with the puck, avoiding a body-check with the move to slip by the defence and went in alone on the goalie, tucking a backhand shot into the top of the net for a 1-0 lead. With the Highlanders pressing in the Eagles zone, Spencer Elder (Owen Sound) came out of the corner with the puck, weaving his way through the defence to put himself in the high slot area where he snapped off a shot to the top right corner of the net to make it 2-0 at the 5:25 mark. Brady Anderson (Chesley) assisted on the play. At 1:57 Darcy Witt (Collingwood) fired a shot to the top of the net from the high slot area to give the Squire John’s a 3-0 lead heading into the second period. Hugh Murray (Beaver Valley) and Davidson worked hard behind the Burlington net to set up the goal.
With the man-advantage, Burlington scored at 14:41 to get back into the game. With 8:35 left in the second, Caleb Stephens (Collingwood) deked out the Eagles goalie to restore the Highlanders three goal margin over the Eagles. Elder and Anderson assisted on the goal.
At 11:19 of the third, Garrett McFadden (Kincardine) carried the puck in over the Burlington blue line. Seeing Ben Van Ooteghem (Saugeen Shores) in the open he threw the puck over, leaving Van Ooteghem to go in alone to the net where it was tucked into the top of the goal for a 5-1 lead. About three minutes later, McFadden came out from the right side boards alone and found an opening on the short side to beat the Eagles goalie for the game’s final 6-1 score. Elder and Stephens picked up assists on the goal.
On Sunday the Bulldogs were visiting the Highlanders in Chesley, and after the 9-3 loss a few weeks ago would want to even up the season series. Also, second place in the standings was at stake so it was expected that the Hamilton team would bring their best game.
The first period started out looking good for the Highlanders, with some scoring chances in the early going, but at the 0:33 mark Hamilton got hold of the puck in the slot and were able to fire the puck into the goal for a 1-0 lead.
In the second period things opened up and both teams were going end-to-end. It wasn’t until the 6:44 mark that the next goal was scored, this time on a 2-on-1 break for Hamilton that saw them open up a 2-0 lead. At 3:29 Ben Van Ooteghem (Saugeen Shores) and Jordan Vanhaelemeesch (Saugeen Shores) broke down the ice on their own 2-on-1 rush, with Van Ooteghem passing to an open Vanhaelemeesch who finished off the rush to close up the score to 2-1. While on the power-play, the Highlanders tied it up at the 2:15 mark on a nice set up play. Spencer Elder (Owen Sound) started it by feeding it into the corner for Caleb Stephens (Collingwood) who then came out at the side of the net and slipped a “back-door” pass to Brenden Welsh (Owen Sound) who had snuck in from the other side and deposited the puck into the empty net. Right after that goal, Hamilton was given another penalty and the Squire John’s were back on the power-play. Unfortunately this time it back-fired as one of the Bulldog penalty killers broke free on a 1-on-1 and was able to get by the lone defender to go in alone on the Highlander goal to score, giving the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead at the 1:31 mark.
At 11:35 Hamilton scored again, this time after the puck was kept in at the blue line and thrown back at the net, with the rebound picked up and put into the net by a Bulldog player to give the visiting team a 4-2 lead. At 10:20 the Highlanders were able to move back to within one goal when Logan Davidson (Creemore) rifled the puck from the blue line onto the Bulldog net, hand-cuffing the goaltender when it short-hopped just before the goal. Hugh Murray (Beaver Valley) assisted on the play. With just over a minute to go in the game, the Highlanders pulled their goalie for the extra man, but Hamilton got control of the puck and were able to skate down ice on a 3-on-2 to deposit the puck into the empty goal and secure a 5-3 win. It was an exciting game to watch, with both teams having excellent scoring chances and with luck will meet again in March during the SCTA Qualifier Tournament in Welland for another titillating match - hopefully this time in the Highlanders favour.