Feb 22, 2017 | Michelle King | 704 views
Horton Concrete Novice Rep Rebels earn playoff sweep over Predators
Due to scheduling conflicts; the Horton Concrete Novice Rep Rebels were forced to play an abbreviated best 2 of 3 series with the Bruce Peninsula Predators instead of the 3 of 5 that was intended. With the added pressure of a shortened series, the Rebels were determined to not fall behind, and with solid team play and stellar goaltending, the boys did their job in earning the sweep.
Saturday, at home in Keady the Rebels faced a back and forth battle with the Preds. Bruce Penn seemed to be the hungrier team as our boys endured long stretches of being trapped in our own end. Thanks to some timely goaltending from Rebel Jacob Fluney though, the Preds were unable to score. This allowed us to capitalize on a chance late in the 2nd when Carter Frook picked up and pass from Matthew LaFond to break in alone and beat a strong Preds goalie high to take a 1-0 lead into the 3rd. Second assist to Kody Cook. The final period saw the Preds continue to press, but time and again the Rebels were able to weather the storm. Finally, with just over 4 mins to play Cook was able to break through several defenders and blast a hard shot in the low corner to give some breathing room. Assists to Finlay Johnston and Simon Potter. The score would remain 2-0 until just 20 seconds left and with their goalie on the bench, the Preds were finally able to beat Fluney. It would be too little too late and the final score was a 2-1 victory for the Rebels.
Wednesday night, after an unusually nice drive to Lion's Head in February, the Rebels were challenged by the coaches to out work their opponents and not give them any space to work. From the opening faceoff, it was clear that the boys heard the message loud and clear and were clearly the better team throughout. Even with the vast improvement in play, the Preds received some strong goaltending of their own and the score remained at Zero's until Jhett McKee went hard to net to pounce on a rebound after a strong shot from Carter Frook with just 30 seconds left in the 2nd. The boys kept the pressure on the rest of the way and received several timely backchecks from our forward corps and a gutsy shotblock from D-man Colton Klages while killing a penalty which enabled Fluney to earn the shutout and the 1-0 victory to sweep the Preds. Great job everyone! Excited to see who we face next.