Durham loses in deciding game
Wingham jumped to another early lead & the Durham legs were not there to close the gap. Winghams victory secures them a spot in the Division Finals against Seaforth.
When it comes down to a final game in a best of five series, it's usually a safe bet that the players will not require any extra, adrenalin laced speeches to pump them up. This was true for the Huskies as we laced them up and prepared to do battle in the fifth and final game of the series. Anyone in the dressing room could see that we were pumped, however transferring that energy to the ice would be the task at hand. As a recap to the previous four games, we stole game one by coming from behind late in the third. Games two & three were a write-off in regards to the final outcome, although the effort was there in game three I felt. Game four was our masterpiece and we would have to duplicate that effort if we wanted any chance to move on and face Seaforth.
As with the first three games, Wingham started strong and went ahead by three goals once again before we could muster any offense. Down by three in the second, Brady Becker dove back across the blue line to avoid an offside and Austin Hutcheson broke in all alone and fired one past the Wingham tender to bring us back within two. Brody Medieros assisted. For the remainder of the second period, we had chances and we were really only one lucky bounce from maybe turning it around. However, Wingham continued to apply solid puck pursuit and there constant two-man press on our puck carriers proved to be too tough to overcome. With just forty seven seconds remaining in the period, the straw that broke the proverbial camels back occurred and we fell behind again by three goals going into the third. Wingham would add another before we countered with one of our own, this time Farm boy Noah Johnson battled hard in front of the net and brought us back within three. Nic Whiteside assisted. With the score 5-2 and time winding down, we pulled The Michelin Man (Lucas Ball) from the net to add an extra attacker. He had already seen his share of rubber anyway, the Michelin Man being a reference to the amount of rubber he had seen during the series.The Huskies were unable to utilize the extra man and Wingham was able to score with 9 seconds left to make the final 6-2 Wingham.
In the five games we played against them, they were the better team a majority of the time although we showed that when we wanted to we could play with them and beat them. Good Luck Wingham.
Paw Prints: At the request of certain parents, whom I will not divulge their identities. I have tried once again and sent the article to the Hanover Post. After not printing the ones I sent earlier in the year?, we'll see if they print this one. (without this comment of course) LYKA.
