Dec 23, 2013 | atomrep | 901 views
All We Want For Christmas Is Our Two Front Teeth
and maybe a few more goals….. The Atom Reps finished the regular season with a string of six tough games that were met with very mixed results.
The first of the six games was in Hagersville and the team came out extremely flat, getting outworked for the first two periods and falling behind 1-0. While the kids did play much better in the third period, they were not able to solve the Hagersville goalie and lost the game 1-0. Jonathan played well in goal but suffered from a lack of offensive support.
The following night the true Stars showed up and played a complete game against a strong Six Nations squad. The team battled back from two separate one goal deficits to win by a 3-2 final. Connor, Kyle and Tyler had goals with Michael (x2), Kyle, Eric and Ben added assists. Colsyn played well in goal and made a huge save with two seconds left, thwarting a Six Nations two on one to ensure the victory.
The third test for the team was in Simcoe against the first place Warriors. The team put together another strong effort outshooting Simcoe and carrying the play for long stretches. Simcoe broke a 0-0 tie late in the second period and managed to hang on for a 1-0 victory. The Stars were victims of some bad luck as they had the tying goal waved off by a quick whistle and were unable to put another one by the Simcoe goalie. Jonathan was strong in goal again but the team couldn't capitalize on his saves .This game was the first time all season that the Stars lost despite playing 3 solid periods.
Game four saw the Stars travel to Norwich to face the Nighthawks. After playing well in the previous two games, the Stars came out flat and fell behind after a wayward shot pinballed off of two different players skates and in to the net behind Colsyn. The Stars continued to struggle until late in the game when, in the continuation of a troublesome pattern, they came alive with approximately 5 minutes left in the third period. The Stars peppered the Norwich net late and tied the game with just over two minutes remaining. Eric scored the tying goal with Tyler getting the assist. Colsyn shut the door after the unlucky goal to give the Stars a chance to come back.
Game five in Caledonia saw the Stars come out strong but fade as the game went on. Noah scored in the first on a pass from Michael and the Stars looked like they were on their way to another strong effort. The team did not sustain that effort in the following periods and were fortunate that Jonathan was on his game to keep Caledonia off of the score sheet. In a case of hockey karma, the Stars were the beneficiaries of a quick whistle that resulted in a Caledonia goal being called back.
Game six had the Stars brave the ice storm and travel to Port Dover for their last regular season game. The Stars again came out flat and were out muscled by the Pirates for most of the game. The Stars found themselves trailing 4-2 with three minutes left in the game. As in previous games, the team woke up late and pumped two by the Port Dover goalie to gain a tie they were lucky to get. While their never say die attitude is admirable, a full game of effort like they showed in the last 3 minutes would have most likely resulted in a convincing victory. Goal scorers were Tyler, Noah, Connor & Michael with assists going to Eric (x2), Noah, Kyle, Sam and Easton. Both Jonathan and Colsyn saw action in the game and managed to keep the score close, allowing the skaters time to wake up.
The end result of the regular season effort put out by the Atom Reps was a record of 13-4-4 which put them in a tie for 4th overall. The team had the third lowest goals against and was fifth in goals for which are both excellent results in a 22 team division.
The team is now enjoying some time away from the rink with friends and family over the holidays before preparing for the OMHA Playdowns and League Playoffs in the New Year.
Also, the Stars shared the christmas spirit by donating to the Canadian Tire Jumpstart Program in order to let other children experience the game that we all love to play. A true demonstration of the type of players that are on the team!
Finally, the team would like to wish all of their families, friends and fans a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Go Stars Go!