Nov 20, 2019 | CherylAnn Golem | 97 views
Rebels Strike Fast but Come Up Short
The Township of Chatsworth and District, Moggie Valley Timber Inc., Midget Rep Rebels were looking to build on the confidence from the recent Silverstick when they traveled to Mildmay to face the South Bruce Blades.
The Blades are always a challenge and the Rebels hit the ice prepared to play. After a scrambly battle at the opening faceoff, Austin McComb finally came up with the puck. He snapped it to Wyatt Golem who took it all the way down, around the Blades defense. Everyone expected a pass but at the last minute Golem cut to the front of the net and buried it behind the South Bruce goaltender.
The Rebels managed to hold the lead through the first but they didn't make it easy on themselves as they had a string of uncalled for penalties including going down to a 5 on 3. Some of the forechecking during the penalties was effective, and when it was not, the team relied heavily on Rebel goaltender Lawson Cumming and he was forced to come up big on a number of occasions.
The second saw the Rebels briefly begin the period short handed. Though they survived they still did not seem to fully regroup before the Blades evened the score at 14:03 of the second. Rebels had a number of chances to even the score at 1 but fell a little short. In their own end, Rebels seemed to scramble at times. It was as if they couldn't remember how to play with 5 skaters on the ice and repeatedly the Blades would have men in the open with ample time to shot as 2 or 3 Rebels were out of position. Unfortunately, the Blades capitalized at 3:51 of the second to take the lead.
The Rebels seemed to regroup and came out stronger again in the third. There was good strong back and forth hockey and the Rebels had a number of chances and finally capitalized when Hunter Schultz buried one with the help of Josh Currie and Jordan Beirnes. Rebels continued to push hard to score but some of their defensive play became sloppy with some players not rushing back to help and others taking short cuts rather than taking a few extra steps and making body on body contact. Rebels had several penalties and unfortunately ended up 5 on 3 with just over 5 minutes left in the game. Cumming was called upon repeatedly to make outstanding saves. At one point it seemed a sure goal as the Blades had almost a whole open net to shoot at. They fired and you could hear a collective gasp in the audience. For just a split second there was silence as the crowd the players and the officials seemed confused as to where the puck went Cumming flipped it to show he had managed to stretch his glove across and snatch the certain goal away from the Blades. Rebels and their fans erupted with cheers.
Despite his every effort, the Rebels were no match for the Blades 5 on 3 and eventually the Blades were able to capitalize. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, the face-off was deep in the Blades zone and the Rebels pulled their goalie in a final hard push for the tie. Rebels won the face off but still managed to let the puck to slide down the ice with one of the South Bruce players in pursuit for an easy insurance goal for them. The final score of the game was 4 - 2 in favour of the Blades. This score doesn't accurately represent the relative skills of the teams. This Rebel team is on the cusp of greatness. If they can figure out how to spend less time in the penalty box and overhaul their special teams there is no reason we can see them OMHA champions at the end of the season.
Rebels start a string of home games this week. Thursday, Nov. 21 @ 9pm vs. Central Perth, Sunday, Nov. 24 @ 2pm versus Huron Bruce and Thursday, Nov. 28 @ 9pm vs. Goderich -- all at the Centre Grey Recreational Centre in Markdale. Come out and show your support during their first homestand of the season.
Go Rebels Go!!!