The Minor Midgets traveled to Waterloo on November 28th to play the Wolves for the second time this season. The two teams were tied for second place in the Alliance East Division going in to the game with the Lakers having one game in hand.
The Lakers came out flying in this one taking the early lead a few minutes in to the game. Quinten Haddock fed the puck back to Carter Stewart on the point. Stewwy led a shot go that was blocked in front of the net and picked up by Garrett James who made no mistake beating the Waterloo goalie with a high shot to the blocker side. The first period ended with the Lakers on top 1 – 0. The Wolves tied the game in the second period when the Lakers were unable to clear the puck resulting in a Waterloo player finding himself alone at the side of the net and he was able to beat Laker goalie Daniel Dekoning. Garrett James scored his second goal of the game and put the Lakers on top when he received a pass from Haddock who did some hard forechecking in the corner. James was in the slot and let a quick shot go that rebounded off the post and in. Ethan Adair also earned an assist on the goal. The Lakers went in to the break with a 2 – 1 lead. Alex Peters put the Lakers up by two goals in the third period with a great individual effort. Adam Zehr won the draw in his own end and Jake Lapointe fed a pass to Peters. Peters rushed the puck from his own end, cut across the Waterloo blueline and let a wicked wrist shot go that beat the Wolves goalie. We have seen Peters do this a few times this season. Waterloo never quit and with 2 ½ minutes left in the game, a Waterloo player came over the blueline and let a slapshot go. Daniel Dekoning had the puck caught up in his equipment and with the Waterloo player rushing the net, the puck dropped to the ice and the rebound was buried making the score 3 – 2. Dekoning shook off the goal and made a stellar save on a Waterloo two on one with a minute to play, sliding across to make the save and ended up beside the net stopping the second shot off the rebound. The Lakers hung on to gain the victory with the final score of 3 -2. The Laker’s were outshot in the game by a margin of 26 to 22. With the win, the Lakers find themselves alone in second place two points behind the Cambridge Hawks with 2 games in hand.
The Lakers have a busy week coming up with a game at the Stratford Rotary Complex against the Kitchener Jr. Rangers on Saturday December 3rd at 1:30 pm and against the undefeated London Jr Knights Gold on Sunday December 4th at 4:30 pm at the Maitland Recreation Complex in Goderich. The Laker’s play their 3rd game in 4 days on Tuesday December 6th on the road in Brantford against the 99er’s.