Jan 15, 2012 | jvanhaelemeesch | 1262 views
Stephens Equipment Highlander Bantams Split Two Points With Niagara North
The Stephens Equipment Major Bantam Highlanders haven’t won since December 17th when they played the Hamilton Bulldogs. It’s not like the team hasn’t played well, but with only one game to play this weekend against the Niagara North Stars the Highlanders were hoping to get the win and end their winless drought.
The first period was all Highlanders, as they had a good stretch of power play time but couldn’t solve the Stars goalie. At the end the of the period, Ben Van Ooteghem (Saugeen Shores) finally scored with 5 seconds left, assists coming from Spencer Elder (Owen Sound) and Caleb Stephens (Collingwood).
The second period saw the Stars come out strong and at 9:57 the Stars tied the game up at 1-1, then took a 2-1 lead at 6:24. Near the end of the period the Stephens Equipment team had the benefit of a man-advantage with the face-off down in the Niagara North zone. Eight seconds later Logan Davidson (Creemore) knocked in the rebound at the 0:13 mark of the period, after a shot by Garrett McFadden (Kincardine) from the point was deflected on goal by Tyler Rolfe (Shelburne). The momentum switching back to the Highlanders late in the second period after evening the score at 2-2, the Stephens Equipment crew picked up the pace. At 12:06, with the Highlanders pressing, Brady Anderson (Chesley) knocked down a clearing pass by the Stars and went in alone on goal with Ethan Skinner (Kincardine) and scored when Anderson’s shot went top shelf over the blocker side of the Stars goalie, giving the Highlanders a 3-2 lead.
Nearing the end of the game, the Niagara North Stars scored a power play goal at 1:43 to tie things up at 3-3. Tyler Fassl played good in net and came up with a couple of key saves through the game when the Stars were pressing for a goal. The Highlanders play next weekend with a 2:00 p.m. game against Welland in Chesley and a 7:30 match in Guelph on Sunday.