It was GAME 3 of the 6 point OMHA Playdown Series ... Do-or-Die for the Lakers and they were not going down without a fight!
The 'Air-Tech Mechanical' BANTAM REP Rebels were counting on their 3rd straight win and they were off to a good start when
Austin King forced a turnover in Shallow Lake's end in the 1st minute of play and fired the puck over to
Wyatt Golem for the one-timer into the net at 9:16.
Laker's Ben Redmond was caught off guard with that one, but didn't make that mistake again and denied all attempts the Rebels sent his way for the next 24 minutes. Ben Shouldice got away from us late in the 1st and buried his shot at 1:44, leaving it a 1-1 tie after one period of play.
Cole Deiter and Shouldice earned 2 unanswered goals for the Lakers in the 2nd at 10:19 and 0:25 ... and then someone in the time-keepers box figured out how to run the sound system, and the music began to play!
We'll never know if it was the tunes blaring or the motivational pep talk that was given at intermission, but the Rebels came out for the 3rd with more control than they had shown all game. They got their groove back!
On a power-play early in the period,
Mitch Stevens went D to D with
Cory Rasmussen and he forwarded it on to
Mitch Faust for a shot from the side that blew past Redmond into the net at 11:21.
The tying goal came from
Kinger less than a minute later with a shot from behind the net that deflected off Redmond's stick and snuck over the goal line at 10:17.
At 6:15 Danny Rourke moved quick to keep the puck inside the blue line and Clayton Krueger got a hold of it and fired it at the net, where Carson Torrie picked up the rebound for the go ahead goal!
The remaining time ticked away with the Rebels all in defensive mode. The Lakers did get control of the puck and headed for the net at 2:10, but Austin McComb was right with him and it was the Lakers that earned 2 minutes in the box as a result.
A time-out at 1:05 led to the Lakers' pulling their goalie to get the extra man out front. The Rebels took advantage of the empty net when
Faust picked up a pass from
Rasmussen and forwarded it across to
McComb out front at 0:51, and
Stevens skated right in for the 2nd goal at 0:22.
Final Score 6 - 3
Just like in Game 1 & 2, the goal tending was phenomenal! '
Awesome' Lawson Cumming in the Rebels net ... and
Ben Redmond in the Lakers'. Very well played boys!
The Rebels move onto Round 2 against Central Perth.
Get ready for a crazy couple of weeks boys ...
Game 1: Tuesday Jan.24 in Chatsworth at 7:00pm
Game 2: Thursday Jan.26 in Monkton at 8:00pm
Game 3: Sunday Jan.29 in Milverton TBD
Game 4: Tuesday Jan.31 in Chatsworth at 7:00pm
Game 5: Thursday Feb. 2 in Monkton at 8:00pm
Game 6: Sunday Feb. 5 in Chatsworth at 3:00pm