Drew Wood picked up his first goal as a Laker, notching a short-handed tally against the Hamilton Reps to help pace the Lakers Minor Bantams to a convincing 5-2 win Sunday in Hamilton.
Coming off a disappointing 3-2 loss a week earlier to the same Hamilton team, the HP Minor Bantams put in a complete game Sunday and came away with a well deserved 5-2 victory. Playing without Carter Strachan and Jared Zufelt, all players dug deep and contributed to the final score.
The Reps took an early lead off a scramble in front of the Lakers net, scoring less than 2 minutes into the game. The team exhibited some good mental toughness by not letting the goal affect them. They used their speed to their advantage and began taking the play to the Reps. This paid off later in the period when Greg Williams fired a nice pass from Drew Wood behind the Hamilton goalie. Less than 3 minutes later, the team took the lead for good when Mike Siddall finished off a nice passing play with Iain Donnelly, burying the puck and putting the Lakers up 2-1.
The 2nd period saw much of the same, as the players continued to move the puck nicely up ice. This paid off early in the period when Jayden Landry sent Matt McCracken in on a break-away after a nice stretch pass from deep in the Lakers' zone by Williams. “Cracker” made no mistake, and slid a nice deek past the Hamilton goalie. The Reps pulled to within 1 off a scramble in front of the Lakers net, however the Lakers regained their 2 goal lead before the end of the period. Playing short-handed for the only time in the game, the Lakers penalty killers played a sound game in their zone, keeping the puck to the outside. They also pressured the neutral zone nicely, with PJ Conlon stripping the puck off a Hamilton defender, sending Wood in alone. Wood made no mistake, firing his 1st goal of the year through the legs of the Hamilton netminder.
Goaltender Graeme Lauersen gave the Hamilton shooters nothing to see in the 3rd period, making a number of nice saves at very opportune times. Any doubt of victory was erased with just over 5 minutes remaining when Donnelly finished off a great 2-way passing play with McCracken by firing a “seeing-eye” wrister into the top corner of the Hamilton net.
The victory was important for the Lakers as they had just come off two disappointing losses to East Division rivals, the Brantford 99’ers (4-2) and the Hamilton Reps (3-2). The players needed a confidence builder and this game certainly fit the bill. The team played one of their better transition games of the year, with defencemen Braydon Blight, Mackinley O’Keefe, Greg Orr, Carter Simpson and Brett Stacey all playing tough in their zone and all moving the puck up ice nicely.
The team heads to Windsor next weekend to play Sun County on Saturday and Windsor on Sunday. They will be hoping to sweep the season series against the Panthers and get redemption against the Spitfires after a lopsided loss in St. Marys earlier in the year.