Mar 04, 2019 | CherylAnn Golem | 528 views
Rebels Caught Napping
The Township of Chatsworth and District, Moggie Valley Timber Inc., Midget Rep Rebels met the Saugeen Shores Storm for the first time this year and, unfortunately, were caught off guard by the fast moving Storm.
Though there was some back and forth, the Storm dominated early as they aggressively pursued the puck on every play while the Rebels stood back and waited for the puck to come to them. Goalie Lawson Cumming made a number of excellent saves and desperation dives to try to hold off the `Storm`of pucks he faced but he couldn`t manage to hold back all of the flood while his own team figured out how to combat the speed and physicality of the Storm. The Rebels found themselves down 3 goals in less than 10 minutes.
Rebels seemed to pull it together more and more as the game went on, they began to respond to the speed with speed of their own and to the checking with their own checking. Rebels even managed to score a goal of their own when lots of hustle helped them get better quality chances. With only a minute left in the first, Jake Moran assisted as Brandon Stewart beat the big Storm goalie to end the period 3 - 1 in favour of Saugeen Shores.
The second period saw 2 more evenly matched teams take to the ice. It also saw some `creative`refereeing. The teams seemed to cope as best they could and it provided more room to move as much of the remainder of the game was spent with the penalty boxes overflowing and either one team or the other with a 1 or 2 man advantage.
There were good chances at both ends and lots of ice. The Storm struck first only a minute into the period, but Rebels quickly responded. Josh Fritz fired into a scrum of bodies and the puck squirted free to Stewart who buried goal number 2 of the game.
Fast-paced, physical hockey continued. The Storm made the Rebels pay for every misstep and didn`t make that many of their own, but when they pushed themselves, the Rebels could contain the Storm and had no problem matching them move for move. Saugeen Shores managed to score one final time, just past the mid point of the second and then the Rebels shut the door against the Storm even when they were being battered 5 on 3.
However, the Storm also shut down the Rebels scoring for the remainder of the game.
Despite many opportunities, the Rebels never recovered the 3 - 0 lead they handed out in the first 10 minutes of the game and the game ended 5 - 2 in favour of the Storm.
Next Storm - Rebels clash is Saturday at 8:30 pm in the Saugeen Shores Community Centre (fna: the Plex in Port Elgin). Now that the Rebels have proven to themselves and the Storm that they can meet them head on, come out and see how things go without a 3 goal head start and a big ice.
Go Rebels Go!!!