Atom Local League fortunate to win close game in Wingham
The Atom Local League crew, fresh off a tough battle with Lucknow, went to Wingham to play Wingham number two tonight. They had beaten some very good teams recently and were ready for a battle.
Hanover got on the score sheet only ten seconds into the game, when Ridge Patterson drove the net and scored an unassisted marker to give Hanover the early lead. That may have been the worst thing that could have happened, as Wingham took the action to Hanover for the majority of the period, notching a goal at 6:05 of the first to tie the game at one on a power play.
Hanover then restored their lead at 2-1, when captain Kyler Knoll dented the twine with a nice rush, an unassisted marker.
In the second period, Hanover got into a bit of a lull and Wingham capitalized to make it 2-2 at 8:13, as some good hard work down low by the Wingham forwards rewarded them with a goal. Then Hanover fought back and got their lead back, as Skyler Bailey was rewarded for some hard work around the net, as he scored to make it 3-2, with Kyler Knoll getting the assist.
Hanover then made it 4-2 a few minutes later, as assistant captain Matthew Howie found the back of the net on a harmless looking shot, that eluded the Wingham netminder to make it 4-2.
In the third period, it was a wide open affair, with 4 Hanover penalties called and two against Wingham, opening up the ice for some offence. Wingham roared back, as Hanover allowed two power plays goals, which made it 4-4. Hanover then answered back, with Matthew Howie racing in on a nice rush and beating the goalie for a 5-4 Hanover lead, with Kyler Knoll and Ridge Patterson assisting.
Then things got crazy, as Wingham came back themselves to tie the game and then take the lead with only 2:21 to play in the game. Hanover was on the ropes, but Coach Steve pulled goalie Gregory Scales for the extra attacker and with 1:15 left in the third period, Matthew Howie completed the hat trick and found the back of the net to tie the game up at 6-6. That's how regulation time ended, which brought about an overtime period.
In overtime, Hanover got some aggressive forechecking pressure happening in the Wingham end zone, which resulted in a great chance by Dylan Freiburger, who converted the overtime winner, giving Hanover a hard fought 7-6 overtime victory. The assist went to Dustin Leask, who was largely responsible for keeping the puck deep in the zone for Freiburger.
It was not the finest effort by Atom Local League, but somehow we found a way to win the game in spite of that. Our guys should be proud of the fact that they continue to never give up on themselves. A particular tip of the cap goes to assistant captain Shay Chittick, who was feeling under the weather, but came to hockey anyway, not wanting to let his team down. He played one shift and realized he wasn't feeling well enough to be able to contribute and pulled himself from the game, helping to cheer on his team from the bench for the remainder of the game. This type of selflessness shows that we made the right choice having him as an Assistant Captain on our team.
We are now 6-2 in play-offs and we look forward to having some fun in our last two games of the season, both against Walkerton. Then 11 of our players will be in the tournament in Whitby in April after that.
