2009-10 Major Bantam - Major Bantams Open Series against Cambridge with a Tie
The Major Bantam Lakers began their second round playdown series with the Cambridge Hawks by coming “oh so close” to getting the win but then having to settle for a tie.
The Lakers got off to a rough start in this game by taking a couple penalties in the first few minutes to give the Hawks a 5 on 3 power play. The Hawks grabbed this opportunity and took a 1-0 lead. This turned out to be all the scoring in the first period between these two evenly matched teams.
The Lakers got rolling at the beginning of the second period by taking advantage of their own 5 on 3 power play to tie the game. A couple minutes later, on a subsequent power play the Lakers scored again to go up 2-1. The thirteen penalties called over two periods between these two teams combined with the three power play goals had both coaches counseling their players to stay out of the penalty box.
The third period was relatively penalty-free as the players adjusted their play to stay within the parameters of what the referee would allow. The Hawks tied the game in the first third of period to make the score 2-2. With two minutes to go, the Lakers pulled ahead after an extended period of play in the Hawks’ end following a Lakers’ power play. With just over a minute to go and a Laker in the penalty box, the Hawks pulled their goalie for the extra attacker to set up a 6 on 4. With 37 seconds to go the Hawks got the equalizer they were looking for. The final seconds settled nothing and the teams headed to overtime.
The overtime period continued the excitement as both teams pressured for the win and exchanged scoring chances. The 3-3 score held up though and this game ended in a tie.
With momentum swinging back and forth throughout the game and the shots on net ending up just about equal, it's looking like a great series may be in the making.
Game 2 in the series is Tuesday in Palmerston at 7 p.m. followed by Game 3 in Hespeler on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. and Game 4 in St. Marys on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
