Sunday January 4th saw the Mitchell Meteors brave some dodgy weather to face the Kincardine Kinucks in Tiverton for an exhibition game. This proved to be a well-fought game from the moment the puck dropped.
End-to-end action saw both teams getting some early chances. Macara Brooks made some excellent saves to keep Mitchell off the score board. The defensive teams of Gabby Legge and Jorja Scott, and Taylor Carney and Casey Beisel (in for Dayle Chinnick who is currently lounging on a beach in the sunny south) worked hard to defend the net and to clear the puck from Kincardine’s end. The offensive teams of Gratto, Gibson and Talbot, and Christie-Wylds, Jones and Urie tried again and again to put the puck in the Meteors net. With 6:37 left in the 1st, the Meteors struck first with a goal from #11 (who would go on to earn a hat trick for her team). The period ended 1-0 for the Meteors.
Period 2 carried on the same as the first, with end-to-end action. The score remained 1-0 until the last few minutes of the second when Mitchell scored two quick ones. The second period ended with Kincardine in a 3-0 hole.
The third period finally saw some scoring success for Kincardine. Talbot and Gibson worked hard to free up the puck in the Meteor’s end. Jorja Scott swooped in from the high point to gobble up the loose puck and fire it into the back of the net at 12:16 (assists to Gibson and Talbot). A few minutes later Mitchell countered with another goal. Kincardine was not finished yet though. Gabby Legge fought hard for the puck in Kincardine’s end, moved the puck up to Gibson who made a perfect tape-to-tape pass to Gratto. Gratto made a strong move to the net and put the puck over the sprawling Mitchell goalie, putting the score at 4-2.
As the girls rallied their comeback, coach Gratto pulled Brooks from the net to put on the extra attacker. Kincardine had some great chances, but were unable to put another point on the board. The puck slipped past the blue line, and suddenly Mitchell burst through to score an empty netter with just 1:13 remaining in the game.
A well fought battle ended with a final score of 5-2. If not for the valiant efforts of Brooks between the pipes, the score could have been much higher. Brooks earned the hard hat for her play. The Kinucks are looking forward to putting some lessons learned in this game to use as they continue league play in Mount Forest.