Minor Peewees Get 6 Points from Western Loop, 2 from Waterloo
Remembering their previous 4-1 loss to Waterloo, the Lakers were ready to avenge it on Dec. 5th in Wingham.
Dominating the 1st period, the Lakers would only see themselves up 1-0 on a goal by Luka Marinic assisted by Keaton Middleton. Waterloo would score 2 in the 2nd frame, one on the power play, while the Lakers seemed to sit back and the momentum was definitely in favour of the Wolves going into the 2nd period intermission.
However, in the 3rd period the Lakers would find some new energy and this would draw the Wolves into taking 7 penalties in the 3rd. Chayse Herrfort would set up Brent West for the tying goal on the power play while Marinic would get his 2nd goal of the game from Middleton and Nicole Zabel at even strength. With 5 minutes to play, Herrfort would put the Lakers up 4-2 with a power play goal assisted by Jon Baker and West. One minute later, Nick Jung would get awarded a penalty shot and would score to make it 5-2 on a nice “sell the shot” move. Wyatt Nicholson got the win in net for the Lakers. Clearly a dominating 3rd period for the Lakers.
Last Friday, the Lakers battled local snow storms to leave for Essex to play the Sun County Panthers at 8:30 pm. The long trip didn’t seem to affect the Lakers’ play as they outshot the Panthers 26-19 and won the game 5-2. Chayse Herrfort would score first from Ian Vanden Heuvel and Mackinnon Hawkins and then again from Vanden Heuvel and Brent West to make it 2-0 in the 2nd period. The Panthers would make it 2-1 on the power play at 11:15 of the 3rd but Keaton Middleton would reply with a short handed marker 30 seconds later assisted by Vanden Heuvel and Luka Marinic. West would score from Herrfort and Jon Baker to make it 4-2 before Sun County would score to keep it interesting.
With the goalie out for the Panthers, Herrfort would work hard to get the puck clear of the Laker zone and create a breakaway for himself sewing up what looked to be his hat trick. However, Herrfort then passed the puck back to line mate West who put it into the empty net. Unselfish plays like this are what this team’s success is built on this season. Way to go Lakers! Tristan Lewis got the win in goal for the Lakers.
The Lakers would stay over and play the Windsor Spitfires the next day and too many mini stick games at the hotel looked like it would take its toll on the Lakers. Windsor would score shorthanded near the end of the 1st period and their goalie would turn away numerous scoring chances by the Lakers until 3:47 of the 2nd period when Justin McCarter would score from Nicole Zabel and Mackinnon Hawkins. Facing a ban on mini stick games and an early curfew, the Lakers would create a flurry of scoring then as Chayse Herrfort would score from Brent West and Jon Baker only to have the Spitfires reply with a goal 35 seconds later. Then on the power play, Keaton Middleton would score from Ian Vanden Heuvel and Luka Marinic to round out the scoring at the end of the 2nd period. Early into the 3rd period, Herrfort would get his second of the game on a one-timer on a nice pass from Middleton. Also assisting on the play was Nicole Zabel. Final score, 4-2 Lakers with Wyatt Nicholson getting the win in net for the Lakers. Curfew lifted!
On the way home on Sunday, the Lakers would stop in Bothwell to play the Chathem-Kent Cyclones. The Lakers would run into an extremely hot goalie as they would out shoot the Cyclones 40 to 15 but manage to score only 5 goals. That would turn out to be enough. however, and the Lakers would win by a score of 5-2. Scoring for the Lakers were: Justin McCarter, Luka Marinic, Jared Nash, Keenan Conlon and Brent West with helpers going to: Chayse Herrfort (2), Nick Jung (2), Ian Vanden Heuvel (2), Jacob Hrudka and Keaton Middleton. Tristan Lewis earned the win in net for the Lakers.
These last 4 wins give the Lakers 32 points with 15 wins, 2 losses and 2 ties in league play. This puts them atop the Alliance standings overall after 19 games of their 30 game schedule. Keep it rolling, Lakers!
