Mar 05, 2019 | Bruce Schlitt | 969 views
Minor Peewee AA Climb Back In Series After Game 3 OT Win
The Peewee AA's headed to St. Catherines on Tuesday evening on the brink of elimination, trailing their OMHA semi final series 2-0 to the Garden City Falcons. However, a late comeback and dramatic overtime goal pushed the Gryphons to a 4-3 victory and have put the Gryphons back in the series.
Garden City struck first as they went to the powerplay 6:47 into the contest. 33 seconds later Garden City scored and took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Guelph evened the score with a powerplay marker of their own 5:42 into the second. Defensman Nathan Boyle ripped a shot on net from the point that was beautifully deflected by Matthew Stam to even the score at 1-1. The score stayed deadlocked after two periods of play.
Guelph took a brief lead 2:16 into the third as Ozzie Johnson ripped a shot off the Falcons' goalie's glove into the net for a 2-1 lead. Ryder Burns and Carden Rogers-Hickman picked up assists on the play. However, just 1:10 later, Garden City tied the score and then went ahead with 9:52 remaining in the game. But Guelph refused to quit and took control off the ensuing faceoff and just 25 seconds later, Tyler Chadwick found the back of the net to tie the game at three apiece. Matthew Stam and Nathan Boyle assisted on the play. The score remained tied as the third period came to a close and both teams headed to sudden death overtime.
With Guelph's season on the line, both teams came out in overtime hard and the play went back and forth. As the ten minute overtime period wound down and the game appeared headed for a tie, Nathan Boyle once again took control of the puck and ripped a shot on net. Olan Norton in front got a piece of it for a deflection and as the goalie stretched out of position to make the save, Norton calmly scooped up his own rebound and cashed in to propel the Gryphons to victory and force a Game 4 on Thursday night.
Parker Shany was strong in the Gryphon net before coming down with a leg injury. Ale Gruosso came in and took over the reigns and backstopped the Gryphons the rest of the way to earn the win.
Guelph returns to action on Thursday night for Game 4. Game time is 8:00 pm at the WERC.