This weekend, The Perth Auto Dismantlers
Atom A Aces took part in their hometown tournament, The Festival Cup. We’ve
covered off an impressive game one. We’ll skate over game two. The writing team
was not present for game three, so we’ll jump to the most exciting game of the
weekend, game four, the semi-final game against regular season rival, the St Thomas
Panthers.
The girls were ready to take on the Panthers in this semi-final elimination game, of which the winner would go on to the gold medal match later that day.
The excitement was high, the superstitions set up and completed and the puck dropped to two teams of competitive Atom players. It was clear early on, we were getting to see our girls at peak performance. Aggressive face-offs and strategic movement saw the play travel from end to end without either team getting past the goalies until five minutes into the second period, saw Emersyn Miller fire one in past the Panther’s goalie. She was assisted up the ice from winger, Paige Campbell.
Finishing out a nail-biter of a second period, at the 2.7 seconds remaining mark, St Thomas found their way around stellar goaltender, Grace Kipfer to even the score at 1-1.
The third period continued the same way the earlier periods had, a battle of well-matched teams, just looking for their edge. So much so, that the game came to a grinding halt with an unsettling tie, 1-1.
Cue the unease, pass the puke bucket, we were going into five minutes of overtime. The game had to be a clear win for one, and an unfortunate loss for the other, so the overtime was unavoidable, but as expected, neither team gave an inch.
Crazy legs Kipfer grew an inch while holding the team tight at the same 1-1 tie. At the 10 seconds remaining mark, parents reached the next level of hell, when it became clear, a shoot-out was the only way the game was to be decided.
Our first shooter, Emersyn Miller attacked the ice like she always does, with speed and agility, only miss the top corner, and while watching the puck sail over the goalie’s head, the weight of the game moved to our next shooter, Lauren Leis. Grace Kipfer stunningly held off another of the Panthers, cutting off any possible angle for their shooter and our attention shifted to Leis as she gained speed and shot down the ice with single-minded focus. Her shot too, breezed just above the Panther’s goalie, allowing St Thomas the chance to deek around Kipfer and pull ahead 2-1.
Cool as a cucumber, Theresa Schuster, classically handled the puck down the ice, strategically deciding to go low around the goalie, but she was unable to beat the long legs of the Panther goalie. The game finished with a heartbreaking loss, 2-1. In the words of the Almighty Prince, “This is what it sounds like, when doves cry.”
The girls picked themselves up, shared a laugh and plotted to figure out who their secret Santa was, leaving the loss on the ice and ready to take on the Panthers during regular season play. Next Saturday. Victory will be that much sweeter.