The Huron Perth Lakers AAA Major Peewees hosted the Waterloo Wolves in Goderich on January 6th in a pivotal Alliance league game. Some Waterloo parents mentioned to the writer that this game would go a long way in seeing who would end up higher in the league standings between these two evenly matched teams.
The first period was a real treat to watch for the many hockey fans attending this game. The period was full of great passing, high flying skating and good goal tending at both ends especially by the Lakers
Cole Thomas. There were only 3 or 4 whistles the entire first period with one stretch of over 7 minutes without a whistle.
Garrett James made a fine defensive play on the back check to break up a two on one. Defensive man
Alex Peters blocked a hard shot that looked like it had goal written all over the puck. With one minute to play in the period,
Gregory Swan was in hard on the forecheck and got the puck to linemate
Andrew Bogdon. He directed a pass to
McKenzie Carter who re-directed the puck into the net giving the Lakers a 1-0 lead. After a line change,
Thomas was called upon to make a fantastic save on a Waterloo attacker who was left all alone in front of the net.
The second period saw the Lakers extend their lead to 3-0. Two minutes into the period,
Taylor Moir passed the puck to
Roland McKeown who took a smart shot on net as he looked for a low opening and fired the shot perfectly on net.
Bayley Boyes was in great position in front of the goalie to gather up the rebound and put in the Lakers' second goal. At the eight minute mark, the Lakers had a defensive lapse that allowed a Waterloo forward to streak in all alone on
Thomas who stayed calm and robbed the shooter with a fine glove save. With seconds to play in the period,
Frasier Lewis controlled the puck in the neutral zone making a sure pass to
McKeown.
McKeown blazed past the defenders making the goalie commit to his left as
McKeown buried the puck into the back of the net upping the score to 3-0.
After the break, the teams came back to a game that looked like the Lakers had in full control. Eighteen seconds into the period,
Carter Stewart cleared the puck deep into the Waterloo zone. The Waterloo goalie started to come out to play the clearing shot when all of a sudden the puck stopped instantly in a wet spot on the ice between the hash marks.
Moir used his speed to beat the goalie to the puck and fired the puck into the net giving the Lakers a 4-0 lead. Three minutes into the period, the Wolves finally solved the goaltending of
Thomas by sneaking a goal in making the score 4-1. Even with a three goal lead the Lakers continued to apply an aggressive forechecking style of play which soon caught them out of position giving the Waterloo team some good scoring chances. With five minutes to play, the Wolves made the score 4-2. With a minute to play, the Wolves lifted their goalie for an extra attacker. With the face off deep in the Lakers zone this game had the feeling that it was far from over. The Lakers won the face off but they released from the zone too early leaving the Wolves out manning the defense. The Wolves took full advantage of these miscues and made the score 4-3 with 58 seconds to play. The Wolves continued to press the play during the last minute but
Thomas sealed up his goal to preserve the 4-3 win.
Both teams are to be commended on playing a very entertaining game with only 4 minor penalties being called. The Lakers have now won 8 of their last 10 games with the jewel being this win over a very tough Waterloo team. Next up for the Lakers is a road trip to Oshawa to take part in a tournament beginning January 9th.