Both of the Local League Atom teams traveled to Bracebridge to play in their play downs on March 5th and 6th.
LL1 finishing in 4th and LL2 finishing in 5th out of 8 teams. Both teams with high hopes of winning their games and moving on to Sundays semi-finals and hopefully the finals.
LL1 team had their first game against the 8th place South Muskoka HRC Insurance. The game plan was to play deep in South Muskoka's end and get as many chances as possible. We felt we needed the points to advance and hopefully land in first in out pool. The Shamrocks got on the board early with an unassisted goal by Chad Herbert. The game slowed down a little until the Shamrocks scored another late in the first off a goal by Derien Smith, assists going to Mackinnley Mann and Simon Norton.
The second period the Shamrocks continued to move the puck very well. They were able to net two more goals, both by Smith, completing his natural hat trick. Assists on the first goal to Oliver Collins and Herbert, the second goal was unassisted. A small neutral zone break down by the Shamrocks caused a turn over which lead to a goal by South Muskoka late in the second, however this would be their only goal of the game.
In the third period the Shamrock scored two more, the first by Bryce Norton, assists to Smith and Cooper Mahon and the second by Herbert from Smith. This game would end as a 6-1 win for the Shamrocks.
The second game the Shamrocks were ready to go and played their best against the Almaguin Ice Devils. The Shamrocks scored two quick goals at the start of the first period. Drew Bloor had an unassisted goal and Herbert scored the second from Collins.
The second period the Shamrocks scored a total of three goals, first one by Merrick Mann from Mackinnley Mann, second by Smith from Herbert and Wyatt Salt, the third by Mahon from Merrick Mann. The Ice Devils scored one goal in the second to end the period with a 5-1 lead for the Shamrocks.
The third period the coaching staff all agreed we needed the goals as points to try to secure first place in our pool. The Shamrock’s responded with 5 unanswered goals! The First two by Smith, both unassisted. The third was by Mahon, the fourth was by Bloor and the fifth was scored by Bryce Norton from Smith. The game ended 10-1. The Shamrocks ended up coming just short and tied Huntsville Tasso Lake in goals for and goals against. The Shamrock had more penalty minutes which was used to break the tie, dropping the Shamrocks to 2nd in their pool.
The Shamrocks were now to play the 1st place team from Pool A, Huntsville McDonalds. This came as a bit of surprise to us as Huntsville Little Caesars lost only their second game of the entire season on this day and it cost them. The loss prevented them from advancing to the semi-finals.
The semi-final game against Huntsville McDonalds started off tight. The two teams were pretty evenly matched. The McDonalds goalie was very strong and the game plan was to shoot from everywhere. The Shamrocks got on the board at the end of the first off a goal by Bloor, assisted by Herbert and Salt. The Shamrocks struck again twice early in the second period, first one by Bloor, assisted by Simon Norton and the second an unassisted goal by Mackinnley Mann who banked it in of a defensemen’s skate.
The Shamrocks would ride the 3-0 lead into the third period with some very strong play in their own nets by both Ethan Penfold and Wyatt Lerbert. This would help to score the fourth goal of the game, his fourth of the weekend…Chad Herbert from Salt. With a 4-0 lead and a very strong effort by the Shamrocks as a team the game seemed to be in the bag. McDonald’s would score late in the third but it was too little too late. The Shamrocks would go to the Championship game with a 4-1 semi-final win.
This game was to be played against Huntsville Tasso Lake. Both teams were evenly matched through-out the season going 1-1-2 in 4 games. However, the game started in Tasso Lake’s favor as they were able to score 13 seconds into the first period. This seemed to change the thoughts of the Shamrocks and the game was a downhill slide from then on. With no bounce and very few shots the Shamrocks fell 4-0 not playing to their potential. Many were disappointed but to come from 6th place at one point early in the regular season and climb right to the Championship game - the boys (and girl) came a very long way, all players improving drastically.
It was a very fun season, this team finished 2nd out of eight teams and I speak from all coaching staff when I say we are proud of this group. The sportsmanship, the work ethic and each players approach to each game and the season was refreshing to be a part of. I hope each and every player had as much fun as we did!
I must apologize for my poor grammar and weak spelling skills for these game reports. I feel that reporting on each of the games is a part of the process for every team that doesn’t seem to happen. For the most part it’s only my opinion but I believe that it helps all to understand the process and who the team is and to record the team’s progress through-out season. It gave us an identity, and the kids something to reflect on and hopefully helps them improve.
Good job team! Easily the most fun I’ve had to date coaching!!