Mar 04, 2017 | Bruce Schlitt | 560 views
Novice Select Netminders Lead Team To Victory
Led by excellent goaltending performances by Carter Curran and Max Heroux, the Gryphon Novice Selects prevailed 4-0 over the Acton Chargers on Saturday evening. Both Curran and Heroux made several point blank stops to post their first shutout of the season.
After a scoreless first period, the Gryphons got on the board 5:05 into the second period when Nathan Bowman went top shelf after picking up a loose puck in front of the Charger net. Declan O' Hearn and Vid Peteranac drew assists on the play. With 1:20 left in the period, Jo Jo Piccone crossed the blueline and blasted a low shot on net that hit the Acton defensman's stick and shot straight under the crossbar like a rocket past the helpless Charger goaltender. Peter Schlitt and George Dutrizac drew assists on the play. The score stood 2-0 in favour of the Gryphs after two periods of play.
2:09 into the third period, the Gryphons struck again. Piccone took a pass in the neutral zone and stormed into the Charger zone where he again unleashed his cannon of a wrist shot. The shot went wide but bounced hard off the back boards and rolled right in front of the Acton net. Nathan Bowman, following the play, crashed the net and tapped the puck into the open net for a 3-0 lead. Peter Schlitt drew the other assist on the play. With 3:37 left, the Grythons forechecked hard creating a turnover and a scramble in front of the Acton net. Milan Wilson finally grabbed control of the puck and directed a hard shot on net that deflected off of Nicholas Tyas' backside as he lay on the ice and into the corner of the net. It was a just reward for Tyas' hard work all night as he was relentless in his forchecking.
As well as the goaltenders played, they were strongly supported by strong defensive pairing of Brody Vanden Beukel and Vid Peteranac.
The Selects have two games remaining in their schedule before their year end tournament in Barrie at the end of the month.