Our LL4 Wolfpack team came out in full force tonight with a
full squad ready to put their best foot forward (right Bob), on playing well
tonight, in an all attempt to secure a win.
Apart from looking a little tight on the bench, having the extra
skaters greatly helped our team with constantly having fresh legs on the ice
and earning some great rushes and breakaways that earned our team, much
success.
Ingersoll Express were true to their name as they scored with just 40 seconds into the game, catching our Wolfpack off guard but it was enough to get our boys attention to get our heads into the game. With each minute passing in our first period our players intensified their play, skating speed, while perfecting their passing plays with half of the goals tonight claiming two assists per goal.
Our first three way play started from defenceman Cameron who passed the puck to Riley who sent it to Josh H who netted the Wolfpack’s first goal of the night at the 3:28 minute mark in the first period. Relief was visibly seen on each of our players with this assurance goal but they weren’t finished yet for this period and with 58 seconds remaining in the period Cameron offered Jonah the puck that he put through the Ingersoll’s goalie, gaining the lead for Paris. Wolfpack were unstoppable and with an unbelievable 3.2 seconds left before the buzzer Riley set up Josh H for his second goal of the night.
Reviewing our past games this was our best first period outcome with 3 goals, to date. With this type of effort our coaching staff were encouraging our players to continue to play hard and not let up.
Our defenceman held the blue line well throughout the game, keeping the puck into the Express zone and put some pressure on their goaltender by lining up shots from the point onto Ingersoll’s net. To cut down our scoring chances Ingersolls’ players plotted to block some shots and rushed our defenceman and in blocking one of Jackson’s shots, Ingersoll was rewarded with a turnover break; fortunately, Jackson was hot on his heels to force him to take a quick shot that Caleb saved with ease.
After the face off Riley rushed the puck out of our zone toward Ingersoll’s line only to be chased down from a player who rushed out of the penalty box, at the half way point; fortunately, Riley beat him in this foot chase and got a clear shot on net that the Express goalie blocked. Fortunately, Josh H seizing the opportunity of a rebound was there to knock the puck, in mid air, into the net, claiming his third goal of the game and claiming his first hat trick of the season!
Entering the third period our Wolfpack had a comfortable 5-1 lead but there was no sign of our players slowing down, in fact, even more so they were being tested by the Express with some smart plays and incorporating hockey contact in a way to fight in gaining possession of the puck and the play.
Our Wolfpack demonstrated some great team effort, one play in particular, Riley walked into the Ingersoll’s zone and with great patience and strategy he waited for his line mates Josh and Jaden to join him, in their zone, and rush the net before he took the shot on net to help him with screening the goalie and finding someone there to catch a possible rebound. Great play, it’s too bad that it didn’t pay off like it should have with that type of team effort, next time for sure boys!
Overall, our team didn’t get riled and only had 8 minutes in minor penalties to contend with throughout the game, two penalties for the second and two penalties in the third period. Our biggest threat came with our final penalty at the 3:28 mark in the 3rd period, when the Express seemed to have the puck in our zone for an indefinite amount of time. Our players made attempts after desperate attempts to get the puck out with no avail, until Josh R cleared the puck clear over everyone’s heads in a last ditch effort to get it away from our net.
Soon after a whistle call and an opportunity for a change of lines, Jaden taking the role of centreman for the first time this season wins the face off and before you know it he is fed a pass from Jackson, on defence, and he skates in on the Express goalie to score his first goal of the season. Oh and did I mention this was a shorthanded goal? Nicely done Lar~dog!
Congratulations to Caleb Hunks for another outstanding game and facing 28 shots, making him this week’s ‘Player of the Week,’ check out his feature on our website on our Player of the Week page https://parisminorhockey.com/Teams/1316/Pages/4888/Player_of_the_Week/
Final score of the game 6-2 for the Wolfpack, get your rest boys as we have a busy week ahead when we play next on Thursday at 9:45pm in Tillsonburg, then Friday at 8:20pm vs. Kirby Duffy’s Paris’ Midget LL3 team and on Sunday at 5:50pm vs Simcoe Warriors 1.
Go Wolfpack Go!
Kevin Noseworthy