Hanover wins tough battle with Wingham
The Canadian Tire Hanover Falcons found themselves in a hard fought battle against the Wingham Ironmen, a team with only one victory on the season, who played their best game of the year. Hanover had wond three previous games by counts of 9-0, 7-3 and 3-0, but were tested, as Wingham put in a fine effort.
In the first, Hanover got on the scoreboard first at 7:38, when Alex Pendergast went end-to-end and wristed a shot into the top corner to put Hanover up 1-0, with Colin Spielmacher getting the assist. Wingham to their credit responded only 1:24 later, when they knocked a loose puck behind Hanover goalie Kody Hammell to tie the game.
Then with 16 seconds left in the first period, Hanover took a 2-1 lead, when Brook Bross picked up a rebound in front of the Wingham net and made no mistake about it, putting it behind the Wingham goalie.
In the second period, Wingham and Hanover battled through a fairly even period, with no one dominating the play one way or the other and both goalies making some good stops to keep the score 2-1 through two periods.
In the third period, Hanover came out firing and controlled the play right from the puck drop and had possession of the puck for the majority of the frame. They were finally rewarded at 5:57, when Quintin Graydon continued his recent hot goal scoring pace, potting another when he jammed home a rebound at the side of the net to make it 3-1.
Hanover played and inspired period in the third and probably deserved more for their efforts, but skated away with a 3-1 victory and upped their play-off record to 5-1-1 with Teeswater up next on monday. Dustin Leask was awarded the "A" for his strong game and efforts.
