Mar 21, 2018 | CherylAnn Golem | 599 views
WOAA Championships Game #1
The Township of Chatsworth and District "Moggie Valley Timber Inc." Midget Rep Rebels, after a long break, faced off against the Wingham Ironmen in game #1 of the best of 3 WOAA Championship series. It hasn't been the strongest season for the Rebels, but they have fought hard to become finalists and they want to be the one hoisting the trophy at the end of this series.
Both teams came out hard and there was end to end play for more than 2.5 minutes before the first whistle of the game. Unfortunately, the Rebels seemed to just shut down. It seemed clear that the 10 days of March Break had not been spent catching up on sleep and working out but had been a "playstation vacation" (all PlayStation all the time) or "all Netflix and no hockey sticks". Rather than hungry, most Rebels looked more like they needed a nap.
After several good chances by the Ironmen, the Rebels made it down to the Wingham end. Then, one of the Ironmen made his way end to end through traffic with little resistance and nothing but net for Wignham to take the lead.
This didn't seem to light any fires in the Rebels and the Ironmen continued to control the game with little resistance from the Rebels. At 6:37 of the first period, Wingham shot over and over at the Rebel net until finally one snuck by the goal line to give the Ironmen a 2 goal lead 2.
Luckily, the Rebels were able to make it out of the period only down 2 - 0. Whatever was said between the periods lit a fire in the Rebels. From the first face off in the second, the Rebels handled the Ironmen.
Rebels were taking the body - they were hustling for the puck - their passes were on - they battled along the boards - they completely dominated.
After a number of excellent chances and much of the period being spent in the Wingham end Calvin Stewart came down the ice and served up a perfect saucer to Alex Knight who found nothing but mesh over the Wingham goaltender's shoulder. Rebels had cut the lead to 1.
The Rebels continued to push and dominate through the second period but they couldn't manage to score another goal. As the period progressed with no additional goals, the Rebels seemed to become discouraged. With a few minutes left in the second, they seemed to lose a lot of their hustle and drive once again.
The third period was a real mixed bag. Some shifts were good and some were horrible. Finally about the 11 min mark Rebels showed some momentum. It led to the Ironmen taking a penalty. Nine seconds into the powerplay, the Rebels stormed the Ironmen end and Cody Cunningham put one past the goalie to tie the game at 2 all.
Rebel goalie, Lawson Cumming, made a number of amazing saves as the Rebels fought through the remainder of the game. There were several close calls at both ends of the ice, but when neither team could score, the game moved into overtime.
Though there were chances at both ends during the overtime, neither team could manage to get that sudden death goal. Finally, with just over 6 minutes left in overtime, the Ironmen had Lawson down in the crease and several of them were taking repeated shots. The Rebels didn't clear the Ironmen out of the crease area and after several excellent desperation saves, the puck finally crossed the goal line to end the game.
Game 2 of the best of 3 series is Thursday March 22 @ 7:30 pm in Wingham. The Rebels proved in the second period that, when they all came out and play solid, smart hockey with some hustle, they can absolutely dominate this team.
Come out to this must win situation and cheer this Rebel team on to a WOAA Champsionship.
Let's Go Rebels!!!