(by team reporter Albert Ross)
The EJ’s Bantam Husky AEs are headed to the OMHA
finals! After dropping game two on the road in a 5 – 2 decision that saw
forward Nic Egli sidelined with an injury, the team rallied in games three and
four to clinch the series.
At home on March 1, the Huskies stepped on the ice determined to win. Goalie Zack Robinson came up huge in the first period to keep the hosts at bay while his team got their fore-checking plays underway. The Dogs were pressed hard in the second with 2 men in the box but Milton could not find the mark due to determined Husky defense. The opener came from Matt Sommerville who whacked in the puck from the slot on a feed from Jacob Ertel. The Winterhawks retaliated on a shorthanded breakaway but the Dogs would regain the lead before period’s end. With 30 seconds remaining, Jackson Gerber tipped in a shot from Sammy Miller, who had gathered up Mason Wagner’s dump-in.
The Huskies struck again early in the third when Sommerville got the puck deep and fed Ertel who made no mistake from the slot. The rest of the period was end-to-end physical action that saw defender Owen Ross delivering big hits as an example for his team to follow. The finisher came from Wagner who stripped an attacker of the puck in the neutral zone and bagged an empty-netter to take the 4 – 1 win and re-establish the series lead.
Game 4 went on the evening of March 4 in Milton and this time, the Huskies were ready. Even so, the hosts, with their backs to the wall, came out hard and had registered the first goal on an early drive to the net. Their celebration was cut short as the Huskies retaliated on the next shift. Danny O’Connell, working hard along the boards, passed the puck back to the point where Emmet Latyn teed it up. The shot along the deck beat the screened Milton goalie through the 5-hole to re-establish the deadlock. Try as they might, Milton could not move the needle, largely due to goalie Carter Schwartzentruber’s efforts between the pipes. After blocking four credible shots in the first, he would come up huge in the second on a determined Milton drive before his team turned things around. Ertel came close but it was Dale Jurica’s point shot that found the mark when it deflected off a Milton defender. Sammy Miller gets the assisting credit on the play that put the Dogs in the driver’s seat.
The physical aspect of the game stepped up as the Winterhawks grew desperate. Unable to advance the score due to penalties, they regrouped in the third when the Huskies found themselves a man short for boarding. Once again, Schwartzentruber was up to the challenge, turning aside repeated Milton chances before his team struck back. It was war on ice but with time winding down, the Winterhawks again pulled their goalie in a last ditch effort to extend their season. It backfired and Ertel sealed the 3 – 1 win when he found the empty-net. It was a spectacular victory that saw the Huskies secure the series in 4 games and propel them to the OMHA finals where they will meet the Colts in Barrie on March 8. Congratulations and good luck Huskies!