The
Wilhelm Financial Midget Huskies LL3 were looking for their first win at home
on November 8 when they hosted the Woolwich Wildcats LL1. The Dogs had recently
toppled the Plattsville Rage in a 3 – 2 barnburner on the road and took to the
ice with confidence for this match.
The Huskies came out hard against the visitors and had their opponent bottled up in their own end for much of the first frame. After narrowly missing a bar-down shot, Cam Gingerich came back with a bullet from the slot that hit pay dirt. Brandon Wagler gathered the assist on the play that put his team on the board. It was more Husky dominance in the second with the next point coming early. Nathan Gerber set up line mate Connor Ross who wasted no time in putting it through the 5-hole. Woolwich was clearly struggling to break it out of their own end and when they did, the Husky defense exacted a punishing toll. Trent Reinhart led the defensive charge that set the tone for what the visitors could expect. The Dogs widened the lead at the halfway point on a lightning face-off play that saw Ross’s quick hands deliver the puck to the back of the net past a stunned Wildcat goalie. They rebounded briefly when the hosts incurred a tripping call. They made the most of the power play and tallied as the period wound down. The Dogs were unrelenting in the third and after killing another minor penalty for boarding, went on a blitz. Ross, who was on fire, bagged a hat trick on the night getting help from Wyatt Stone and Reinhart. The visitors tried to answer but Net minder Liam Saunders was the foil on their efforts. They managed to succeed on a final drive with less than a minute remaining but it was not enough to stop the Huskies from securing their first win at home. It was a sweet 4 – 2 victory that they hope to build on next weekend when they travel to do battle in the Ingersoll tournament.