Mar 23, 2013 | Rod Lichti | 854 views
New Hamburg Optimist Novice Tournament
Once again, it was tournament time for the boys of LL1. With many of the players sporting fresh new hairstyles, including mohawks of blue, the team entered Saturday morning’s first round match up against Walkerton hoping that their new look would inspire them to victory.
The boys got off to a tremendous start and spent the first few shifts completely dominating the play and making it nearly impossible for the over-matched Walkerton squad to move the puck out of their end. Tenacious forechecking by all of the forwards, and incredible play at the Walkerton blue line by the Huskies defensemen allowed New Hamburg to score early and often.
Hard-skating winger Casey J. capitalized on loose pucks in the Walkerton crease, and scored two goals. Ethan L. chipped in with two unassisted goals of his own. Sam Wildfong scored, as did defenseman Carson F. on a beautiful end to end rush. Ryan Y. scored as he was set up beautifully by line-mates Kohen P. and Shaun Z. All of the hard work led to an astounding seven goal performance. The boys played very sound defensively, but when there were lapses goaltender Deklan J. made many saves and recorded another shut out to bring his total to a jaw-dropping 10 on the year.
Also appearing on the score sheet with an assist on one of Casey J’s goals was hard hat winner Logan M.. His hustle both on offense and defense was enough for him to be named player of the game, but when he skated over to the bench after losing a tooth during his first shift on defense it was a no-brainer.
With the win, the boys moved on to a semi-final match up with rival New Hamburg LL2. The game was a fast-paced affair that didn’t allow for either team to find much room to skate due to collapsing defensive schemes that kept it a close game for the full 30 minutes. Down by one goal with 2:24 to play in the third period, LL1 pulled goalie Deklan J. and added an extra attacker. The boys completely dominated the play and had many chances, but they all seemed to either get partially blocked, or sail just wide of the net. In the end, LL1 came up just a little short in a very close 1-0 loss.
In the dressing room after the game, with blue streaked cheeks and foreheads, the boys held their heads high knowing that they had played some of their best hockey of the season.
Great showing boys and congratulations on a very exciting tournament sponsored by the New Hamburg Optimists.
....submitted by Rob Knorr