Jan 23, 2012 | jgerber | 1088 views
OMHA Round #2 Underway
submitted by team reporter Albert Ross
The Re/Max Twin City Peewee AE Huskies locked horns with the Caledonia Thunder and found the competition pretty stiff. The Dogs were away on Thursday January 19th looking for the first win in their 2nd round of OMHA play-down action. When the dust settled, the Huskies came home with a 2 – 2 tie and a dawning realization that they would have to dig deeper if they were going to advance to round three. Nathan Gerber and Ethan Field garnered the points for the Huskies in the dead-locked contest and like the rest of their team, hoped to improve that showing at home on Saturday night.
As expected, the Thunder came out hard but the home team was ready. It looked like it was going to be scoreless after one but a screened shot with seconds remaining, hit the mark putting the opposition on the board first. The Caledonia celebrating was short-lived as the Dogs immediately answered in the second. Some determined work along the boards by Field paid off handsomely. Gaining puck possession first and then passing to Dawson Hussey was the play of the game. Hussey walked the puck in and beat the goalie to re-tie the match. With the front end working well, Joel Domm was getting it done on the back end by breaking up a determined 2 on 1 rush to keep his team in command. Another Caledonia chance was dashed by Jackson Holmes who was keeping the Husky net shut to all attempts. A head-hot call against the Thunder late in the frame offered another opportunity for the Pack that they made the most of. With the puck in deep, Trent Smith circled the net and passed it out front. As luck would have it, the shot deflected off a defender’s skate to score on the power-play, putting the Dogs in front. The third frame was open war with both sides taking penalties. Neither side could move the needle in the furious play that followed but it was clear the Huskies were getting better chances than their opponent. With a minute of play remaining, the Thunder pulled their goalie in desperation but it badly backfired. In a race for the puck, Hussey was hit from behind hard resulting in a 3-game suspension for the Thunder player. Back on the power-play, the Dogs secured the insurance marker with 25 seconds remaining. Evan Denison potted the empty-netter on a feed from Smith to seal the 3 – 1 win. Hussey will be back in the line-up for game 3 on Tuesday as the Huskies look to widen the series lead over the Thunder.