Sr. Ice Hockey
Our team played a very prepared and game-ready BCS Squad. Though our competitive spirit was alive and well, we knew that our cardio-vascular fitness would be a limiting factor, compared to our opponent’s deep bench. Further, this was the first opportunity the entire team skated together, so our overall team-concept was under-developed and untested at this time. After a solid beginning it appeared this game was going to be a hard-fought, low-scoring affair with both teams applying significant pressure but not scoring. Towards the end of the first period, first game jitters seemed to be hindering us. Players stopped moving their feet and started taking some momentum-sapping penalties, which yielded a 5-on-3 for our opponents. Ben M. had to make some incredible saves to keep us in the game until the period end, in which BCS scored as their power play ended to take a 1-0 lead.
After striking first in the second, to tie the game, we were pleased with our response. However, our opponents rallied, and they deserve credit for capitalizing on our lapses to keep the puck in our end. The likelihood of an SLS win was slowly slipping away due to poor clearing attempts, errant passes, and lost focus. In future, our second period play will need to be better to put victory within reach.
The final period of play saw a resurgence in our team energy and we were pleased with our commitment to chip away at their lead. As a result, we were better defensively, keeping our opponents off the score sheet, and we scored the only goal in the third period to end on a productive note.
Paul Morris, Coach
Photos by David Hutchison