Feb 04, 2014 | Rob Lee | 1369 views
OFFENCE MISSING SINCE RECENT STORMS!
The recent barrage of snow has apparently led to the disappearance of a consistent offensive production for the First Concrete Ltd. Bantams as their strong play of late fell off at the Central Ontario Wolves tournament last weekend.
The Highlanders came out flying in the first game of the tournament as they completely outclassed to Oshawa Generals in everything but the score board. Despite outshooting their opponents by a 4 -1 margin, it was the Generals who went ahead 1 - 0 on a third period goal. That goal seemed to take the air out of the boys and they were unable to answer over the remaining time, ultimately dropping a critical game by that 1 - 0 score.
Game 2 saw the Highlanders face the home town Central Ontario Wolves and fell behind 1 - 0 before the offense woke up. Josh Urbshott snuck in from the point and converted a pass from Jakob Lee to tie the game on the power play. Jordan Taylor helped with the other assist. The Grey Bruce power play was clicking again when Noah Johnson converted on a nice set up from Ben and Zach Tupker and the boys added to their lead when Brayden Thompson and Logan Swanton went D to D for a shot from which Damien Sutton was able to convert the rebound. Unfortunately, leads are only strong enough if you put a full three periods of effort into them. The third period saw the Highlanders seemingly satisfied with their previous efforts and stopped skating only to see the Wolves battle back and tie the game at 3.
With a disappointing first day in the books, it was up to the First Concrete Ltd. Bantams to battle back on day 2 of the tourney. It began well as the Highlanders struck for three early goals to take a 3 -0 lead on the Central Ontario Wolves. Josh Urbshott once again converted on the power play with assists to Noah Solinger and Ben Tupker to take an early 1 - 0 lead. A few seconds later Jordan Taylor tipped a Danny Skinner point shot to add to the lead. It was only minutes later that Jakob Lee ripped a shot past the Wolves goalie on the power play again with assists to Will Rickerby and Logan Swanton. However, an easy win it was not to be as it was Deja Vous all over again. The Wolves stormed back by continually forcing the Highlanders to settle for perimeter play and began to take the game over. Three Central Ontario power play goals followed by an empty netter paced the home team to a 5 - 3 win over the Bantams. They were left shaking their heads as they looked back on losts opportunity that would have seen them start the tournament 3 -0.
With very little rest in between the Highlanders were forced to play a must win game for an opportunity to play in the championship. With dead legs and lost confidence the boys came through with a gritty 4 -2 win. Noah Johnson connected on a nice cycle for Zach and Ben Tupker. Troy Weber added to the lead from Dalton Black and Logan Swanton. Zachary Tupker connected for a 3-0 lead from Ben Tupker and Josh Urbshott. Oshawa answered back with one of their own before Dalton Black scored an empty net goal to finish Oshawa for good.
The win set the stage for another showdown with the Central Ontario Wolves in the championship game. However, with a depleted lineup due to injury and suspension, the Highlanders were not able to offer much challenge. The Wolves captured early momentum and did not look back posting a 4-1 win. Noah Johnson connected with the lone Highlander goal with an unassisted effort.
Hopefully, the boys will be able to spend the week digging out that lost offensive production for the heavy slate of games scheduled for the last month of the season.