This past weekend had the minor
midget HP Lakers in action on Friday in Cambridge at the historic Galt arena.
The boys were in town to face the Cambridge Hawks - the top team in the
Alliance so far this season.
The Lakers weathered an early push by the home team without
damage and managed to grab the lead midway through the first, when Sheldon
Pryce jumped all over a loose puck in the slot and blasted a shot past the
Hawks’ netminder. The lead was short lived however, as Cambridge bounced
back with a nice goal on a tic-tac-toe passing play to tie it up. Shortly
after, the Hawk's would strike again when a stretch pass, that would have gone
for an icing, banked off the linesman' s skate and directly onto the stick of the
Cambridge forward who found an open man across ice for the goal. The
Lakers responded with a lucky one – a dump in by Carter Schoonerwoerd that the
Hawks’ goalie tried to direct into the corner that instead came off the inside
of his goal stick and into the net. It was a 2-2 tie at the end of the first.
The second period saw the Hawks regain the lead on a powerplay
goal and then increase it to two on an odd-man rush before the end of the
second, sending the Hawks to the dressing room up 4-2.
As the third period began, it appeared that Cambridge had the
game in hand. But the Lakers had other plans in mind. A Hawks’ powerplay was
neatly shut down, with several big shot blocks by the Lakers defense. The
penalty kill spurred the boys into action. A point shot by Austin
Mumby that went wide was gathered in by Jack Becker who fed the puck across the
crease to Blake Wideman who had all day to tuck it home to make it a one-goal
game. The Lakers then headed to their own powerplay midway through the
frame, but the Hawks managed to kill it off. However the continued
pressure on the puck yielded another man-advantage as time waned and this time
the Lakers struck gold. Schoonerwoerd again, from Thomas Gangl this time
and the game was tied 4-4. Furious action at both ends of the ice (including a big blocked shot by defenseman Andrew Van
Boekel) yielded no further scoring and the game ended in a tie.
Great comeback by the Huron-Perth lads, gaining a tough point
and asserting themselves against a difficult opponent. Player of the game honours went to d-man, Austin
Mumby. Also, the play
of goalie Carter Roth deserves special mention as he was excellent throughout
the game - especially in the third period - stopping 38 shots overall.
Sunday’s home opener against Waterloo was cancelled at game time
due to a power outage at the Rotary Complex following a windstorm. The
Lakers and Wolves were disappointed to leave without playing the game, but
Mother Nature showed she is ultimately in-charge. This one will be
rescheduled at a later date.
Next up is Home Opener v2.0, Friday October 20th at 8
p.m. against the Hamilton Huskies at the Rotary.