Feb 21, 2011 | mmerner | 1125 views
PEEWEE REP HEADED TO ALL ONTARIO FINALS !!!!!
The Zurich Peewee Rep team is headed to the OMHA Championship Finals after defeating a strong Port Carling team 4-3 in front of their home fans at the Bluewater Community Centre on Monday afternoon. A very determined home team battled hard for the entire game. With several players on the ice with the flu and colds, others out with injuries and sickness, the boys really had to dig deep to pull this one off. Port Carling jumped out to an early lead scoring 3 minutes into the game, Mitch Finlay scored on a breakaway at the 7 minute mark to tie it, Port Carling quickly took the lead back scoring 40 seconds later, before Finlay responded with another unassisted marker 25 seconds later to knot the score at 2 after the first period.
The tides turned in the second period as Finlay completed his hat trick on a pass from Joey Mathonia and Tyler Merner scored the eventual game winner on a nice head man pass from Connor Brand. In the third the opposition battled back to close the gap to 4-3 at the 5 minute mark. Zurich was handed a 5 minute major, charging penalty with 3 minutes remaining in regulation. The body check was a clean but heavy hit and was a questionable 2 minute minor call, unfortunately the Port Carling player was injured on the play and the infraction was upgraded to major call. The upcoming penalty kill would make for an intense finish to the game. The hard work and pressure from the shorthanded Zurich team prevailed and they allowed only 1 shot on goal and by the time Port Carling was able to pull their goaltender for an extra attacker it was too late. The home team then celebrated their first ever berth in the OMHA finals. An under the weather Will Overholt showed alot of heart making some great saves to preserve the huge win. Jake Earle, Devon Steckle, Jacob Laporte, Travis Cressman, Nathan King and Jarett Oke all played great games for the locals. ZMAA mascot 'Thunder Man' was out in full force pumping up fans and players throughout the game. Hats off to a very classy and respectable group of Port Carling players, coaches and parents. Zurich now waits to see who they will face off against in the finals. Every player should be proud of their accomplishment so far, only time will tell if one more page can be written in their storybook season.