Jan 15, 2018 | CherylAnn Golem | 375 views
Midgets Play Hard But Come Up Short
The Township of Chatsworth and District "Moggie Valley Timber Inc." Midget Rep Rebels hit the ice flying in game 2 of the OMHA series against Drayton. Unfortunately, they came up just short and the Defenders now lead the best of 5 series 2 - 0.
The Rebels played an amazing first period. The Drayton Defenders didn't know what had hit them when the Rebels took to the ice Sunday and dominated. The Defenders had one reasonable shot from the corner on a semi-break into the Rebel end and other than two attempted icings that ended up on the Rebel net, the Defenders never made it across the Blue in the first period. But, despite all of the time in the Drayton end, the Rebels were unable to score.
In the second, the Rebels took the lead 24 seconds in as Calvin Stewart and Zac Nicol assisted Cody Cunningham in the first goal of the game. Unfortunately, after some "interesting" calls by the officials the Rebels found themselves down two skaters and the Defenders finally managed to get into the Rebels end and score to tie the game.
Despite still being down one skater, Brandon Stewart answered back with the short-handed goal for the Rebels (assist to Mitch Stevens) and they regained the lead. The penalties changed the momentum of the game however and the Rebels never fully recovered. They continued to play well in the second and carried much of the play, but the spark they had in the first period was gone. With just under 2 minutes left in the second, Drayton struck again and the period ended 2 - 2.
The third saw a different dynamic. Rebels goalie Lawson Cumming was called upon repeatedly to make difficult saves to hold his team in the game. At 13:06 Drayton once again managed to score and take the lead for the first time in the game. The Rebels battled back and evened the game at 3 on a beautiful goal by Austin McComb but a few seconds later, the Defenders once again found the mesh behind the Rebel goalie and retook the lead.
Rebels continue to push to score and the Defenders continued to pepper Cumming in fast end to end hockey.
In the end, the Rebels looked tired as they threw everything they had into the last few shifts but they just couldn't manage to get one into the Defender net. It was an excellent effort by the Rebels and certainly showed that they can dominate Drayton, they just need to last through 3 periods.
The Rebels backs are against the wall and they are now in a must win situation as they head to Drayton Wednesday night and face elimination. Come on boys, you have shown you have the skill, prove you have the heart. Let's go Rebels!!!