Last night, we played the Rockers in Game 8 of the North Vikings Winter Season of inline hockey. We had five Wheeler skaters on our bench (Crystal was away) with Matt in goal (I welcomed the news, saying that he brings us luck, he said that he thought we lost our last game with him in the pipes, I said that doesn't mean we weren't lucky, and how could he come back at that except in the way he did (ie. with a shutout)). The Rockers had Andy in pipes and six on the bench, including Mel from the Bumpers as a reserve. We'd been asked earlier if we needed a reserve, to which we'd fired back the information that we had four definite starting skaters and our fifth might be late (Brenton got there on time shortly afterwards) so, now that he knew that, we'd leave it to the co-ordinator. We ended up going with our own five starters.
My thoughts before the game were that it was going to be a fairly close contact type of game, with four regular Rockers who play a solid c grade game. I thought we had the edge but that it would be a tough battle either way.
Which was true. The end scoreline doesn't really give an accurate picture of the game. Merrilyn and me started on the bench, watched the Rockers have at least one shot on goal and us generally relying on strong defensive positioning. This continued to be the way of it for the next few shifts, their initial onslaught regressing until a pattern of play established itself half way through the period. We tended to suppress their shot attempts without necessarily keeping possession in the both ours and the neutral zone, making rapid forays which usually resulted in either a shot or a scrum in front of goal.
At the ten minute mark I carried the puck through the neutral zone for a mid range shot at goal, which rebounded out and resulted in a competition between me, the goalie and a rapidly arriving pair of Rockers to get control of the puck. Somehow I managed to tap it to Tasha, standing near the far corner post, who lifted it neatly over the goalie's outstretched pad to open the scoring.
As is often the case, we started to find our rhythm from this point on, put a fair bit of emphasis on preventing their having any good opportunities, keeping them in the corners, etc. We didn't make the regular attacks we had been prior to opening the scoring but, to be fair, we were also beginning to become quite tired. Sitting on the bench as the final minute of the half ticked down, Merrilyn and I both commented on how spent we felt. I knew that Josh was struggling with his recoveries, Brenton and Tasha seemed to be holding reasonably steady. With less than a second to the siren Pauline got off what was probably the Rockers' best scoring opportunity of the game with a high hard shot from the slot from an intercepted attempt at a clearing 'pass' that sadly went right to her. Matt caught the shot and the siren went and I told Josh to catch his breath as he came off. 1-0 at half time with us playing a more settled game than our opposition.
The second half began, much as the first half did, with a tight ten minute tussle. They were desperate to get shots on goal and, to their credit, they succeeded in doing so. Significantly, however, all came from outside 'the house' and Matt dealt with them quite well. Our shots, on the other hand, tended to come from close in on the crease, and on the rush from, or through a crush in, the slot. At about the ten minute point, Josh put in a goal from one of his kamikaze assaults and I breathed a sigh of relief from the bench. It certainly feels better to have such an 'insurance goal' than not to. From this point, the game changed dimensions in the last ten or so minutes. They started finding it hard to get the puck out of their own end as we pressed forward. The game had swung into our hands and all we had to do was capitalise.
In the last ten minutes we scored three more goals. The first went through with five minutes to go, Merrilyn potted it after catching Natasha's pass, who herself had received it after a relief pass from her to me, recovering in D on the centre line, and subsequent return. A minute later I broke up the right boards, cut in towards centre across the high slot while being pursued, managed to flick a blind backhand laser shot into the near corner of the net. Neat shot. 4-0.
I played a role in our final goal, receiving a releasing pass from Josh near our goal as I skated up the left flank, drawing two defenders onto me as I held it up and allowed Tasha to get into position, cross ice pass to her and a quick lifted shot into an upper corner. Great shot. 5-0.
Two minutes to go and our last shift was on the rink. Me and Brenton sat it out on the bench, though I think we were both pretty right to go back on. It was interesting watching Josh's skating, you could see him hit 'the wall' as his power, technique and decision making all went by the wayside as he gutted it out to finish the game.
GP 8 G 8 A 11 Pts 19 +17 6/2/0
Inline 42
No comments:
Post a Comment