Feb 26, 2015 | Sheri Peet | 1286 views
Atom Hyundai AE vs Hanover Falcons
The Atom AE Hyundai Sailors returned to round robin play this weekend in the Neilson Cup series with a home game against the Hanover Falcons at the Maitland Recreation Centre. Saturday evening’s game was the home half of the two games with the Falcons. The previous week’s game in Hanover had been cancelled due to weather and has been rescheduled for March 7th.
The Sailors came out strong in the opening minutes of the game getting several shots on the Hanover goaltender before the Falcons opened the scoring just past the midway point of the first period. They would extend their lead to 2-0 two minutes later. The Sailors continued to get chances and cut the lead with a goal by Wesley assisted by Chris and Cameron. The Sailors took control of the puck in the neutral zone and despite falling twice Wesley managed to keep control of the puck. His wrist shot from the right wing went over the Hanover goalie who had gone down early. The Sailors ended the period on the powerplay with a chance to tie the score, but ran out of time in the period.
Goderich continued to press for the tying goal to start the second period and were rewarded with an unassisted goal by Spencer. Spencer worked his way to below the left faceoff dot and fired a hard shot to beat the Hanover netminder. A penalty to Noah for interference allowed the Falcons to regain the lead with four minutes to play in the second period. The Sailors worked hard to again tie the game leading to a Falcon’s penalty for tripping with less than a minute to play in the period.
The powerplay opportunity for the Sailors carried over into the third period, but the boys were not able to capitalize. Minutes later Noah was called for body contact leading to a Falcons’ powerplay chance. The boys successfully killed the penalty. As the penalty was expiring, a Falcons’ player was called for body contact leading to 4 on 4 for 30 seconds followed by an abbreviated powerplay for the Sailors.
Just after the midpoint of the third period the Falcons’ extended their lead to 4-2. On the next shift a Falcons’ player was called for body contact giving the Sailors their fourth powerplay opportunity of the game. The boys had some good chances, but did not score. With time running out the Sailors pulled the goalie for the extra attacker. They continue to press for a goal with some strong play in the offensive zone.
With 1:16 to play, the Falcons’ bench took an unsportsmanlike penalty and the coach was ejected from the game.
The Sailors took a timeout to set up for the final minute of play with two man advantage. The boys had their chances to score, but were unable to beat the Hanover netminder. With the seconds ticking down the Falcons escaped the zone and threatened to score into the empty net but were stopped by Chris blocking the open net.
The Sailors record in the Neilson Cup series is 1-3 and they are tied with Walkerton in the standing.
With the win, Hanover (2-1) is two points ahead of the Sailors in the standings. Listowel is leading and has yet to lose a game (3-0).
Next up for the Sailors is a home game next Sunday against the Listowel Cyclones. The first game with Listowel was a 5-0 shutout loss.
Article Credits: Jim Sherratt