Feb 13, 2020 | CherylAnn Golem | 396 views
Rebels Slink Away with 1 Point
The Township of Chatsworth and District, Moggie Valley Timber Inc., Midget Rep Rebels may have made the trip to Drayton, but for much of the game it seemed like they left their drive and desire to win at home. Luckily they managed to pull it together and bring home 1 point thanks to 4 or more posts and some acrobatics by Lawson Cumming who may have seen more time with the puck in the Rebels end in this one game than he did in the entire Shallow Lake series.
The first period saw the play stay primarily in the Rebels end. At 9:34 Rebels managed to get out of their own end as Hunter Schultz headed in with a beautiful shot and the trailer, Jake Moran, buried the rebound to give the Rebels the lead.
Immediately, the Rebels returned to playing in their own end. They would battle hard to get the puck and then a bad pass would give it right back to Drayton or there would be a race for the puck and Rebels wouldn't have the gas. With almost half a period in the Rebels end, the Defenders finally scored at 7:20 of the first to tie the game.
With just over 5 minutes left in the period, Rebels made it into the Drayton end. Jack Kivell blasted one from the point and Austin King pounced on the rebound to put the Rebels up 2 - 1.
Cumming continued to make difficult saves through traffic as the play returned again to his end of the ice. After several minutes of pressure, once again the Defenders evened the score. The period ended penalty free and tied at 2.
Period two once again saw the play in the Rebels end, and, with several Defenders open and uncovered, 30 seconds in, Drayton pulled ahead for the first time in the game. Cumming remained composed despite the heavy workload and he kept the Rebels in the game (with the help of a few posts)
Finally, Rebels winger Carson Torrie made a drive to the Drayton net. Despite having to fight off the defense-man repeatedly, Torrie fought his way through and roofed it while leaving the goalie completely hand-cuffed.
Rebels managed to survive the second half of period 2 while fans held their breath. A somewhat improved Rebels team returned to the ice in the third and a lot more time was spent in the Defenders end but there were still many questionable plays. The game saw plenty of physical play but most of the Rebels were not throwing the body the way they had against Shallow Lake. There were a number of chances at both ends of the ice and the referees seemed content to let the players play as the game continued penalty free. Rebels hit a crossbar and a post of their own, along with a number of shots that just skimmed over the net and pile ups happened in both creases on several occasions. Since neither team could score, the game headed into overtime.
Rebels fans were relieved to have made it this far but apprehensive about the next 10 minutes. It wasn't pretty, but, both teams threw everything they had at the opposing net. Cumming again kept coming up big as he constantly managed to cover the puck with 2 or 3 Defenders on him as well as turn aside 2 on none and 3 on one break outs. Rebels tried backhands, forehands, deeks, slap shots, chip shots, wristers. Nothing made it in.
At the end of 4 periods (3 regulation + 1 sudden death overtime), the score remained tied at 3 and the game remained penalty free.
These teams return to the ice for game 2 of the series. Thursday, February 13, 2020 @ 9 pm in Markdale. The boys are sure to have that first game out of their system and they will start full out on the first puck drop of the first period. Come out and cheer on the Rebels. The fans who have followed them all season are proud of the way these players developed and became a team. Midget Rep appear to be the only Chatty team still in the hunt for an OMHA championship so come on out a make some noise and show some Rebels pride.
Let's go Rebels!!!