Kincardine MTC Computer Atom LL1 vs. Goderich Sailors
On Sunday November 30th the
Kincardine MTC Computer Atom LL1 Kinucks hosted the Goderich Sailors in
Tiverton. The Kinucks were keyed up for
this one as they wanted to make up for a poor showing the day before in Port
Elgin. Coaches Blayne Nicholson and Cory
Hunter focused on the positive to get the boys ready for what proved to be an
exciting match-up.
After being hemmed in their own end in the early going the Kinucks began to apply some pressure of their own leading to good scoring chances for Kole Price and Lucas Watson forcing good stops by John Smith in the Goderich net. The action started going end-to-end till Goderich’s Nolan Wilson broke in alone but Bryan Nicholson came up with a good save. Kincardine again began to press the action into the Goderich end but when the puck was cleared, Wilson scooped it up for another breakaway but again Bryan came up with a big stop. Play moved back to the Goderich end with a nice passing play between Kole Price and Charlie Hall Elwood just missing, but Charlie jumped on the resulting loose puck and picked the top corner to give Kincardine the lead just before the period ended.
The 2nd period got off to a fast start with Wilson again breaking in for the Sailors just after the start of the period with Victor Cox and Ryan Bytheway in pursuit, but Nicholson just got enough of the hard shot to bank it off the crossbar. The exciting end-to-end action continued when a crafty player change by Goderich left Halle Armstrong behind the Kinuck defense to go in alone but again Bryan held the puck out. Some scrambly play in the neutral zone led to rangy Goderich defenseman Adam Roulston going around the outside and in on the Kinuck net and bounced a hard shot off goaltender Bryan Nicholson’s facemask and into the corner of the net to even things up at 1-1. The Kinucks put on the pressure again but were again victimized by Roulston as he used his strength to fend off the Kinuck defenders but this time Bryan was ready for the heavier shot and kept the game even to end the 2nd period.
Once again end-to-end action was featured at the start of the 3rd with both teams getting some good opportunities. Kole Price and Charlie Hall Elwood again combined on some nice passing then Kole put a nice move on the defender and was just able to squeeze it by Sailor goalie Smith for the go-ahead goal. The excitement continued as both teams competed hard to get the next goal, with Mitchell Hackett, Lucas Watson and Liam Hunter all making several dangerous attacks into the Goderich end but the Goderich defense held strong. The MTC defense held strong when they had to as well led by Kaiden Ford, Thomas Ostrowski and Isaiah Wencel making good clearing plays as Goderich tried to tie the game up. Late in the game a Goderich penalty put their chances of making a come-back in jeopardy. Adam Nasime held the line on a clearing attempt allowing Charlie to scoop up the loose puck and go in on the Goderich net picking top corner again for the insurance goal in the last minute.
This was by far the best effort of the season that this writer has seen from the MTC gang and a well-deserved win in an exciting contest. Coach Nicholson praised his troops for keeping their cool when things got a bit rough at times during the intense competition. Sportsmanship and fun go hand-in-hand.