After a tough season struggling to play five hundred hockey, the Atom Rep Sailors would face Kincardine in the first round of WOAA playoffs. The first game was played in Kincardine on Jan.10th and with Kincardine missing their starting goalie and the Sailors showing up to play hockey as a team it was an easy victory with the Sailors taking the game 6 – 2. Scoring for Goderich were Larkin (2), Hewitt (2), Helesic (1) and Fisher (1) with assists to Johnston, Ritchie, Armstrong and Lockie.
Game two was held in Goderich on Jan.15th and would prove to be a much closer contest between the two teams. Early in the first period the Sailors ran into penalty trouble with two in the box allowing Kincardine to take advantage getting an early goal and keeping the lead until midway through the third when Bryanna Campbell would score for the Sailors evening the score. No more scoring would take place in regulation time so off to overtime the game went. It would prove not to be a very long overtime with Goderich’s Mitchell Fisher scoring just a minute and a half in with a shot from the top of the circle.
Game three was played Jan.17th in Kincardine and the Sailors knew that Kincardine would come out hard. The Sailors under estimated Kincardine and they came out scoring two times in the first 3 minutes of the game. The Sailors struggled to find their game allowing Kincardine to score another part way through the second to go up by three. The Sailors did not give up and finally notched one late in the second by Bryanna Campbell but Kincardine would answer back again before the period would end keeping their three goal lead. Early in the third the Sailors would notch another by Darren Lockie but that would end the scoring for the game giving Kincardine a 4 – 2 win.
Game Four was played in Goderich on Jan.22nd and the Sailors knew this was it a loss would mean playing game five on Kincardine’s ice and that couldn’t be an option. The Sailors came out hard keeping the puck in Kincardine’s end most of the first with many scoring chances but couldn’t get the go ahead goal. In the second period Kincardine picked up their play and took it to the sailors but with good goal tending from Liam Shore the Sailors would end up taking the lead midway through the period on a goal from Nate Helesic. The game would remain 1-0 until early in the third when a goal from Mitchell Fisher would put the Sailors up by two. Kincardine didn’t give up and kept coming at the Sailors eventually getting one with about five minutes remaining in the game. Kincardine pulled out all the stops in the last five to get the tying goal but the Sailors would hold them off for a 2 -1 win and take the series three games to one. Great job Team and thanks everyone for your spectator support. Please come out and cheer us on when we begin our next round against the Mitchell Meteors.