Jan 28, 2019 | Kristen Rochon | 1187 views
2005 T3 Green Win at Winter Ice Experience (Gene Harrington) Tournament!!
The Jr Cougars squad traveled to the Buffalo
area on the weekend to participate in the Gene Harrington Winter Ice Experience
and brought home the championship in a most exciting overtime win that had the
teams playing 5 on 5 with no goalies!
The weekend started strong with a win Friday morning over Don Mills Mustangs 5-2 for the Jr Cougars. Friday night's match versus West Mall Lightening, a game that saw the Jr Cougars dominate but were unable to solve the West Mall goalie, had the team gulping down a 3-0 loss. They had all day Saturday to rebound and prepare for the highlight outdoor game against Humber Valley Sharks at 8pm at the outdoor facility. As of game time, the team's chances to go on were quite slim. But the players put that aside, battled hard and dominated the Humber Valley team, with both goalies giving shut out performances finishing the game with a 7-0 win. By the time the team was leaving the arena, the whispers had started that the chances to play in Sunday's final were rising in our favour.
Bright and early Sunday morning, we realized our fate, the team would have a much anticipated rematch against the West Mall Lightening, the team who beat us Friday night and finished atop the standings in the division. The table was set for a hard battle, one team anxious for redemption, the other with a sense of 'we got this' from their earlier win. The Jr Cougars came out of the gate flying, scoring early in the game and dominating the ice. The 1-0 score carried the Jr Cougars, who I'm sure tasted victory, through most of the game...until just less than 5 minutes left in the third West Mall snuck one by to tie the game at 1-1.
That set up an exciting overtime that saw teams play 5 on 5, then to 4 on 4, still with no winning goal. The Jr Cougars fought hard, even when serving a penalty in the third overtime frame that saw the teams go 4 on 3 and still no victory. Until the ref called the goalies to the bench and told both teams to ice 5 skaters aside, nets empty, which made for some exciting hockey. The puck sat on the Jr Cougars goal line, until a player pulled it out only to have it passed up the ice to a rushing winger who went down and shot the puck into the empty net! The victory was sweet and felt by all players, coaches and families!! It was a great weekend of hockey and team building, capped off by a most exciting win!!
Thanks to Head Coach Steve Beharrell and his Bench Staff for a great weekend!!