The Dunny Stratford Peewee A Aces travelled to Chatham on Saturday November 26 to face the Outlaws. The Aces were playing with a short bench and girls playing out of position. The Aces were playing for the first time in two weeks but the Aces were also playing without excuses.
Although the game was a bit sloppier then the Aces would like the girls were able to pull together for a 4-0 win behind Paige Willie in the Aces goal. Reese Reinecker got the Aces on the board early with what proved to be the game winner. Lauren Taylor started the play in the Outlaws end along the right wall finding Kayla Wieringa who fired a shot at the Outlaw goal. Reinecker was able to get a stick on the shot and deflected into the net as the Outlaw tender slid in the other direction, and the Aces went up 1-0.
The game stayed that way for the remainder of the first period as the Aces still were trying to find their legs after the long layoff. The defensive pairing of Reese Ostryznick and Jesse Dietrich did a nice job in a late first period shift where Chatham was trying to create some momentum in the Aces zone. The shift saw each D have a nice battle in their respective corners and minimize any danger toward Willie in the goal. Shifts like that as well as timely saves by Willie allowed the girls to keep grinding and they were rewarded in the second period. Keira Dietz chipped the puck into the corner deep in the Aces zone to Kennedy McGregor who found Taylor playing a shift on left wing. Taylor found a streaking Wieringa who powered into the Outlaw zone streaking around a Chatham defender staying with her shot and tucking in her own rebound to make it 2-0.
In the third the Aces ran into some penalty trouble. Great penalty killing shifts by Caleigh Webb and Olivia Brock on the back end helped the Aces keep the donut against and a very strong PK shift by Raelyn Pennigton smartly controlling the puck away from Outlaw players were instrumental in allowing the Aces to continue rolling. The Aces added two more goals in the third. The first of these was a nifty marker. McGregor carried the puck deep into the Outlaw zone and left the puck for Wieringa in the right corner. Wieringa skated behind the Outlaw net fooling the Outlaw goaltender who thought she was going to come out front and went down into a butterfly. Wieringa snuck to the left side and placed the puck on Taylor's stick out front for a tap in beauty making it 3-0.
The Aces iced the game late after Briar Slattery received a pass from Rayne Bowden breaking out of the Aces zone. Slattery found McGregor who played a text book give and go with Avery Wildgust in the neutral zone. The quick return pass from Wildgust to McGregor froze the Outlaw defenceman at the blue line and allowed McGregor to sneak in behind and finish the breakaway goal for a 4-0 Aces victory.
The Aces would like to thank the Chatham Outlaws who were celebrating Outlaw day and invited the Aces players upstairs for some pizza and refreshments after the game. It was a very classy move on their part and appreciated by the Aces.