Romeo Pet Hospital U13A Aces defeat top teams to hold the Central West divisions final playoff spot with five games left.
Despite with the aces ongoing tournament success, the U13A Aces
regular season playoff run has proven to be a dog fight. With five games
remaining in the OWHL regular season the gunners find themselves three points
ahead of division rival Waterloo Ravens to hold the final playoff spot. Since
winning gold at the Woodstock New Year's tournament the Aces are 2-2-1 splitting
home and homes with division leading Owen sound and Woolwich while tying the
Ravens. Penalty box discipline has set the girls back forcing long penalty
kills preventing the Ace offense from generating much needed goals. While coach
Porter appreciated his girl's intensity on the ice his focus has been on
reducing the girl's time in the box.
On the road January 15th in Owen sound the girls fought a hard
and tough match and entered the third tied 1-1. the Aces would be sent to the
box twice late in the third giving the Hawks the man advantage - and the
advantage they needed to get past the Aces. The Aces would fall 3-1.
Back on the road on January 21st the Aces travelled to Woolwich
and the game would follow a similar script. the Aces would take a tie halfway
through the game only to find the penalty box repeatedly. Through this the wild
would wear down the Aces defense and score pair while adding an empty netter to
hand the Aces a 4-1 defeat.
Looking for redemption the following week the Aces would
host a 2 game homestand January 28th and 29th at the Rotary complex.
They would first see the Waterloo Ravens.
2 points from this game would catapult the Aces into a more solid playoff
position but the Ravens weren’t having any of it. Waterloo would solve the Aces
defense early going up 1-0 which prompted a large response from the girls where
Micki McDonald buried a feed from Carali Hugill and Leighton Nickel to tie
things up. Jule Cameron would follow and put the gunners into a lead all within
the first frame. The game would tighten
up into the second with the Aces being forced to the box and the team would
rely on the Ace penalty kill to keep their head above water. Just as the game
entered its final frame the Ravens would tie things up, denying the Aces the
extra point they needed while keeping the gap in the playoff hunt at 1 point.
Post-game Coach Porter commented that the focus would be to tighten up the defensive zone and eliminate
shooting lanes forcing the opposition away from the net. The Aces would take these
skills forward against top scoring teams the Wild and the Ice Hawks.
The Aces would find a tough challenge the next day at home
hosting the Wild. Still licking their wounds from a crushing 4-1 defeat the
previous week the Aces knew they’d need to give it everything they had to show
they could contend with the top of the division and Taylor Miller would take
matters into her own hands early shelfing a beautiful wrist shot halfway
through the first send the Aces up 1-0.
The Wild would respond immediately to tie things up beating Reece Flanagan
with a wrap around goal from the Wild’s top gun. Gritty forward Leighton Nickel pulled the
girls ahead late in the first. The Aces would spend the rest of the game
defending the lead, fending off Wild pressure on the Ace D and of course Reese
Flanagan making clutch saves throughout.
Ace win 2-1.
The Aces hosted the second place Ice Hawks Sunday Feb 5 one point
ahead of division rival Waterloo for the final playoff spot. The Aces found
themselves on their heels early in the first as the Hawks pressured the Ace net. The offence got going late in the first where
high flying Taylor Miller took a beautifully placed pass from Keira Blain behind
the net to bury the Aces first goal.
Shorthanded in the second the Aces would kill a 5 on 3 with patience and
class. With continued Hawk pressure the
Ace D would fend off shots with their bodies. One shot block would propel Carali
Hugill through to a break at the Hawk net where she would place one up short
side and high while diving over an outstretched Hawk goalie, reminiscent of a
timeless Bobby Orr winner putting the Aces ahead 2-0. The Hawk pressure was relentless through the
third, as the short benched Ace team fatigued and fell on their heels fending
off wave after wave of Hawk pressure. The
Ace D did prevail, stopping shooting lanes and forcing the Hawks to the
perimeter preserving a 2-0 victory.
The U13A Aces ended the weekend with a more solid spot remaining
4th in the division, now 3 points ahead of rival Waterloo and with their sights
set on Cambridge 3 points ahead of them with Stratford having the advantage of a
game in hand. With 5 games left, the girls face Woodstock and Guelph next weekend
hoping to propel their way up through the standings.