Playing against one of our sister teams in the play-offs is
always a hard thing to do; most of us have friends on the other teams… At the same
time though, we know who to watch. A quick glance at their roster told us that
they had an excellent call-up, rumoured to be a double-letter caliber player
(Atom level), who was on a single letter team for personal reasons. So we already knew that we were facing a huge
challenge, despite our own talented roster and call-up (Eric this time!).
It was clear from the outset that these teams were a close
match-up. Our players seemed nervous
though, and often resorted to passing to each other instead of shooting on the
net… perhaps their number 57 (just as tall, if not taller, than our own number
57) was too intimidating. Lots of effort and hard work went into the first half
of the game, and it was only well into the second period that the refs allowed
a goal that should NOT have been allowed (I have two videos of it, the second
even clearer, thanks to Niraj’s dad from the other team, see what I mean about
friends? Thanks Daya!). You be the judge. Had this goal not been allowed it
could have been a game-changer; two of our players, perhaps deflated and feeling
hopeless, benched themselves at the start of the third period, and halfway
through this last period, with our remaining players tired and just trying to
hang on, that little number 44 (our opponent’s call-up) managed to shoot one
past Kenneth after bringing it up from their zone and almost tripping over two of our players' sticks. At least that was a real goal.
There were quite a few highlights in the game, including a
breakaway by Skylar (that also could have been a game changer!). I have picked out the best for your viewing
pleasure.
We have another game tonight (the 14th), which we need to win to stay in the game.
Go Cougars, go...!!!
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