The HP Laker PeeWees hold a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Hamilton Reps after 2 weekend games. Solid 3-0 and 4-1 wins have positioned the Lakers nicely for their next action in Hamilton on March 1st.
Entering Game 1 of the Series in Hamilton on Saturday, the team had not seen action since losing their first series in 3 straight to the Waterloo Wolves. The long layoff however allowed injured players Iain Donnelly and Carter Strachan to fully recover and get ready for the Reps, giving the coaches their first full team roster since October.
Special Team play was the story of the game, with all 3 Lakers goals scored on Special Teams. Matt McCracken opened the scoring in the 1st period with the Lakers down a man. Nicely stripping the puck off a Hamilton defenceman, McCracken broke in alone on the Rep’s goaltender and finished off the play with a nice deek. The Lakers then took a 2-goal lead while on the power-play in the 2nd period. Hard work by Greg Williams to gain the zone allowed Donnelly (Cole Ciccone, Jordan Pache) to pick up the puck off the boards and rifle a shot to the top of the net. McCracken (P.J. Conlon, Travis Bender), with his 2nd of the game, finished off the scoring with another power-play goal in the 3rd period. From the slot, he turned and fired a shot at the surprised Hamilton goalkeeper, catching him out of position for the goal. While strong team play limited Hamilton to just 10 shots, Joe Metzger played a solid game in goal, coming up with key saves at times during the game when the outcome was very much up in the air.
Hamilton travelled to Goderich Sunday afternoon for the 2nd game in the series. After a scoreless 1st period that saw the Lakers out-shoot the visitors 6-3, Williams (Donnelly) opened the scoring in the 2nd with the team on the power-play. He picked a puck up off the end boards and tapped it in the open net for the lead. Late in the period, however, Hamilton tied the game after some hard, down low work in the Lakers' zone. Were it not for the performance of Ben Errington in goal, the score at the end of the second would have been much worse for the team, who were out shot 9-4 over the period.
Fortunately, the zamboni showed up to clear the ice between the 2nd and 3rd periods, giving the coaches a great opportunity for some in-game “teambuilding.” They should consider marketing their approach as the Lakers scored 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd, the 1st one on the 1st shift of the period. Some strong work by the line of Donnelly, Williams and Jayden Landry, with defencemen Strachan and Tyler MacNaughton resulted in Landry putting the team ahead for good. Less than 3 minutes later, Mack O’Keefe (McCracken, Connor Johnson) picked up the insurance goal off a laser from the point that sailed untouched into the top of the net. Landry (Donnelly, Strachan) finished off the scoring with the team again on the power-play, when he picked up a rebound off a Donnelly shot from the point and out-waited the Hamilton goalie before bulging the twine!
The weekend’s games were all about positives for the team. The same effort and more will be required however if they are to finish off the Reps this coming weekend.