Sep 22, 2008 | cmetzger | 771 views
Minor Bantams Gain Valuable Experience in First Tournament
The Lakers Minor Bantam team traveled to Ajax and Pickering on the weekend of September 12-13 to participate in the Ajax-Pickering Raiders Tournament. In round-robin play, the Lakers faced Clarington Toros, Grey-Bruce Highlanders, Ajax-Pickering Raiders, and Oshawa Generals.
Lakers vs Clarington Toros
The Lakers Minor Bantam team opened their participation in the tournament against the Clarington Toros early on the Friday morning. The Lakers fell behind 1-0 in the first period but bounced back in the second period to take a 2-1 lead before Clarington was able to tie it up on the power play. The third period saw the close play continue between these two evenly matched teams. Clarington scored the go ahead goal in the second half of the 3rd. The Lakers then ran immediately into some penalty trouble. Clarington was able to score an insurance goal mere seconds after a Lakers penalty had ended and went on to win the game 4-2.
Lakers vs Grey-Bruce Highlanders
The Lakers second game was later in the evening against the Grey-Bruce Highlanders. The Lakers had faced the Highlanders in exhibition play a few weeks earlier and settled for a 4-4 tie. The Lakers showed a lot of jump as they dominated the first period, scoring the only goal of the period with less than a minute to go (and short-handed at that).
The second period picked up right where the first period had ended as the Lakers scored within the first minute to go ahead 2-0. The Lakers added another goal a few minutes later to establish what seemed a comfortable 3-0 lead. A minute later, however, the Highlanders finally got on the scoreboard with their first goal. The Lakers added a power play goal with just a few minutes to go in the period to restore their 3 goal lead. The Highlanders responded with their own power play goal less than 20 seconds later and then added another goal a minute or so after that to shave the Lakers lead to 4-3 after two periods.
There’d clearly been a momentum shift during the second and into the third period as the Highlanders came on stronger in the last half of the game while the Lakers saw their team play struggle as they repeated gave up the puck and got into penalty trouble. The Highlanders would tie the game on the power play. With four minutes to go in the game, the Highlanders would score the go ahead goal and a game the Lakers looked like they'd win easily in the first period and most of the second period, were now in danger of losing. In the final minute of the period, the Lakers pulled their goalie in an attempt to get the equalizer. Unfortunately, it was the Highlanders who would score – an empty net goal to go ahead 6-4. The Lakers didn’t quit and were able to score a goal with just 23 seconds left but still lost the game 6-5. The realization that the team had let the game slip away from themselves was a hard but important lesson to learn.
Lakers vs Ajax-Pickering Raiders
After a good night’s rest and with lots of time before the Lakers' third game, scheduled for late in the afternoon on Saturday, the Lakers coaching staff took advantage of the time to have a team meeting with the boys. The team knew they were in for a tough game as they’d be facing the host team, the Ajax-Pickering Raiders, who had been tearing up the competition (defeating Oshawa 4-2, Grey-Bruce 8-2, and Clarington 7-1). The Lakers would also be short 3 players due to suspensions.
The Lakers came out flying in the first period and were all that the Raiders could handle. With 2 minutes remaining in the first period the Raiders got in penalty trouble and the Lakers took full advantage of it by scoring the lone goal of the period. The second period saw the Lakers take a couple penalties but there were able to kill them off and the second period ended with the Lakers still leading 1-0. After a flood between the second and third periods, the Lakers came storming out again and scored in the first minute of the 3rd period to go ahead 2-0. The Lakers weren’t finished yet as two minutes later they scored again to go up 3-0 on the Raiders. However, missing a few players started to take its toll and by halfway through the 3rd period it was clear that the Lakers were running out of gas. The Raiders were desperate to get back into the game and pushed hard at the Lakers. The Lakers withstood the pressure and only gave up one goal to defeat Ajax-Pickering 3-1. The next day, Ajax-Pickering would advance all the way to the tournament finals only to lose 3-1 to the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Lakers vs Oshawa Generals
The Lakers fourth game was late Saturday night against the Oshawa Generals. Both teams were held off the scoresheet in the first period. Oshawa was first on the scoreboard thanks to a power play in the second period. Oshawa was able to follow it up with another goal before the period was over. In the third period, Oshawa continued to press and was able to add two more goals before the Lakers replied with their lone goal in reply with less than a minute to go in the game – final score: 4-1 for Oshawa.
Although the Lakers didn’t advance beyond round robin play, they came away from the tournament knowing that they could have won the two games they played on Friday and that they could play as well as the teams that made it to the tournament finals when they get it together.
The Lakers Minor Bantams open their regular season on the road this Friday evening in Galt against the Cambridge Hawks.