On Sunday February 13th the Squire John’s Grey-Bruce Highlanders Minor Bantams hosted the Oakville Rangers in Chesley. This would be their last regular season game between the two teams and each team wanted to send a message to the other in preparation for the SCTA Qualifier Tournament in Welland.
For the first period both teams cautiously tested each other’s defence and it ended in a 0-0 draw. The second period turned out to be the complete opposite. Early in the period Oakville drew a penalty and while short-handed scored a goal at 13:14 to take a 1-0 lead. For about the next nine minutes the play kept going back and forth, with some sustained pressure by both teams a few times in that time span. Then at 4:22 Oakville struck again to go ahead 2-0, and a little over a minute later scored again to widen the lead to 3-0. At 2:17 the Highlanders drew their first penalty of the game and had killed it off, but before the returning player could get back into the play the Rangers found the back of the net at 0:14 to send the Highlanders to the dressing room down 4-0.
The third period started out a lot like the first period, and at 8:11 the Highlanders drew their second penalty of the game. After successfully killing it off, the team’s spirits lifted and after keeping the puck in the Ranger’s end on a clearing attempt, Jamison Buck (Collingwood) fired the puck in towards the Rangers goal. Ben Van Ooteghem (Saugeen Shores) tried re-directing the puck past the goaltender who stopped it but gave up a rebound, which Van Ooteghem deposited into the net. The team not yet giving up, Garrett McFadden (Kincardine) lifted a high saucer pass out of the Highlanders zone that sailed onto the Ranger’s net. The goaltender stopped but did not cover up the puck as Logan Davidson (Creemore) streaked in and knocked the puck into the net through the five hole with 1:06 to play.
Final score of the game was 4-2 in Oakville’s favour. Next weekend the Highlanders will be on the road with two games on Saturday versus the Guelph Storm and Burlington Eagles, then one against St Catharines Falcons on Sunday.