Mar 03, 2018 | Bruce Schlitt | 685 views
Minor Atom AE Even OMHA Semi Final Series With Game 2 Victory
The Gryphon Minor Atom AE's headed to Oakville on Saturday night for Game 2 of their OMHA semi final series against the Oakville Rangers. The Gryphons came out with a gutsy effort and squeaked out a hard earned 3-2 victory to even up the best of five semi final series at one game apiece.
The Rangers went to work right away on the Gryphons. Just 48 seconds into the contest, Oakville broke in on a breakaway for a quick 1-0 lead that had the Guelph squad back on their heels. Connor Laskowki breathed life back into the Guelph squad with 2:23 left in the first. McKenna Petti slid the puck over to Laskowski in the neutral zone and Laskowski lifted a wrist shot on net from just inside the blueline and the puck bounced right in front of the Oakville goalie and slid by him to make the score 1-1 after one period of play.
Oakville carried the play to open the second period and were rewarded by cashing in on a loose puck 2:42 into the period to take a 2-1 lead. The TSN Turning Point in the contest occurred when Guelph came right back down and tied the game just 17 seconds later. Milan Wilson won the faceoff at center ice and came down the ice for a shot that was stopped but Matthew Mainprize pounced on the rebound and slid it home to tie the score once again. The winning goal came with 5:17 left in the second. Guelph pressured Oakville in the Ranger zone and defenseman Kai McCoubrey rushed to the boards to stop an Oakville icing attempt. McCoubrey launched a shot on goal that was deflected by Chace Roffel right onto the stick of Connor Laskowski and Laskowski backhanded a quick shot past the Oakville goalie for a 3-2 lead.
The remainder of the game was a back and forth affair with the Gryphons unable to add an insurance marker and Guelph netminder Maxwell Heroux making several critical saves to preserve the lead. Oakville called timeout and pulled their goalie with 2:34 left to play. Two Guelph penalties added to the drama as Guelph furiously killed off 6 on 4 and 6 on 3 disadvantages in the last 2:29 of the contest to earn the victory. Guelph finally celebrated the victory as the clock ticked down to zero much to the delight of the extremely boisterous group of Guelph fans who made the trip to Oakville.
With the OMHA semi final series now tied at a game apiece, the Gryphons will get set to hold Game 3 at home on Monday night at the West End Rec Center. Puck drop is slated for 7:30.