Mar 25, 2014 | Dave Duncan | 1162 views
OMHA Finals #3
On Monday March 24th, the Marcc Apparel Bantam AE Sailors were in Ilderton to face the Jets in game 3 of the OMHA Finals.
This time the Sailors came out with a spark. With eight minutes remaining in the period, Braeden picked up Brady's dump in, threw the puck into the slot, and Kyle was there to bat it in to give the Sailors a 1-0 lead. The boy fed off this, Liam went around the Jets defender, and snapped a quick shot that rang off the crossbar. A couple shifts later, the puck was sent back to Kody, who fired a hard shot just wide of the Jets net. The Sailors kept up the pressure, but couldn't build on their 1-0 lead.
The Jets started to pressure the Sailors in the second, but Tanner made some beautiful saves to keep the Sailors on top. Just over six minutes in, Tanner deflected a shot into the corner, and the Jets winger threw the puck back out front, where it banked in off Tanner's skate to tie the score. The Sailors responded quickly, taking the puck into the Ilderton zone, and causing their goalie to make a nice save. On the play, Kody cut to the front of the net, and as the whistle blew, Kody and two Jets player collided in front. Kody received a two minute penalty for staying on his feet. The Jets capitalized on the penalty kill to take a 2-1 lead. Two minutes later, Ryan battled hard in the Jets end, and his second effort paid off when he stripped the defender of the puck, and slid the puck in to tie the score at 2-2. A minute later, the Jets were handed their second power play. On this penalty kill, the Sailors knocked the puck out of the zone, and the Jet defender ran a pick, taking the Sailor penalty killer out of the play, while the other defender got the puck back up the ice. The Jets crashed the net, and scored on a rebound to take a 3-2 lead. On the play, the Sailors received another penalty, giving the Jets their third power play of the period. The second period ended with the Sailors down 3-2.
Mid-way through the third period, a Jets forward slashed at Tanner as he had the puck covered. The Sailor defense came in to protect their goalie, and all 10 skaters ended up between the circles, with punches thrown by both teams. At the end of the play, the Sailors were given 10 minutes in penalties (and an explanation why the linesman cursed at the Sailor forward), and the Jets received 8 minutes. The Sailors were on the penalty kill again. Just before the penalty ended, Ilderton scored their third power play goal of the game to extend the lead to 4-2. The Sailors pulled their goalie, and managed a couple shots, but Ilderton scored an empty net goal to ice the game. As the game ended, an Ilderton defender threw a punch to the back of the Sailors forward's head, in front of the Jets bench. When the Sailors forward protested, he was cursed at by the other linesman. The game ended 5-2 Ilderton, but the score wasn't indicative of the play.
The next game of the series, a must win for the Sailors, is tonight at 9pm at the YMCA.