A great season comes to an end
Submitted By Tawnya Schlosser on Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Hanover L.L. Falcons played their final play-off game on Saturday, March 13th in Ayton against the Minto Mad Dogs. After the tough game the weekend before, Hanover was ready for the re-match.
Hanover came out driving with Brody Weber and Ryan Colquhoun with early chances on the Minto net. Defenseman Luke Breen did an amazing job of shutting down the Minto offense by helping netminder Caden Prues deflect a number of early shots. At 5:26 Dale Leroux opened the scoring, assisted by Blake Walters, with a nice backhand into the corner of the Minto net. Even though Hanover picked up two penalties late in the first, the defensive work of Breen, Weber and Christian Vandepoll managed to kill them off and hold Minto scoreless. The second period opened with Hanover again having some early chances by Leroux and Colquhoun. Prues came through with a number of amazing saves by the halfway mark of the period. Then at 3:53 Colquhoun made it 2-0 Hanover with an end-to-end breakaway that he flipped over the Minto goalie. However, Minto pressed hard and slipped around the defense to put a long, angled shot past Prues into the far side of the Hanover net. Another quick shot by Minto in the last minute was blocked by forward Adam Knoll. The third period started with Hanover playing defensively, trying to hold onto the one-goal lead. Forwards Walters, Cam Rourke and Olivia Schlosser were skating hard to move the puck, and defensemen Nathan Oelschlagel and Dawson Gilkenson held the blue line. At 4:03 Minto tied the game, forcing Hanover to change their strategy. Keifer Teeple had several great chances to score the go-ahead goal, but Minto's defense blocked every shot. Finally, at 2:15 Minto forwards managed to scoot around Hanover's defense and put another one in the net to make it 3-2. Despite pulling Prues in the final minute and a last-ditch rally by the Falcons, Minto put one more shot in the empty net for a final score of 4-2.
Hold your heads up high, Hanover!! You had an amazing season. Good luck to everyone in 2010-2011.
