The Bantam Rep Sailors took home a well-deserved victory over the BCH Ice Dogs on Monday, December 20. After a hard fought battle for dominance, the Sailors came out on top.
In the first period, the Sailors were cautious as the two teams probed each other out. They were solid defensively, but the Ice Dogs managed to score first at 12:57, making it 1-0. The rest of the period remained scoreless, despite the Sailors really coming to life during the last few minutes. The second period started off with a bang, as Mykal Hodges found Luke Fraser who skated around the BCH defense and popped it in to tie the game at one goal apiece. As the game progressed, the Sailors worked harder and harder, and the play became more physical. At 7:32 of the second, BCH went ahead once more, but then the Sailors unleashed their wrath on the opposition with four goals in quick succession. Hodges let one fly from just over half and tied the game at two, assisted by Harry Parsons. Later, Brandon Johnston put the Sailors up by one at 3:32. Hodges passed the puck up to DJ Stevenson, who netted the Sailors' third goal of the period, making it 4-2. Then Johnston got the rebound goal from Chad Kernighan, putting the Goderich team up by a score of 5-2. The third period was scoreless but penalty-ridden as the Sailors guarded their lead with everything they had. The calm and unflustered manner of the Sailors' defense worked in their favour as they fended off the Ice Dogs time after time. Goalie Jordan Johnston's quick hands prevented any further scoring by the opposition, and the Sailors walked away with a great team victory. The Sailors meet the Kincardine Kinucks in the opening game of the Kincardine Regional Silver Stick Tournament, at 6:30 pm on Monday, December 27 at the Davidson Centre in Kincardine.