Feb 08, 2015 | mmerner | 794 views
Thunder Clinch Series In Thrilling Game 5 Overtime
With the series tied at two games each the Zurich Midget Thunder knocked off the Elma-Logan Wildcats in Game 5 overtime to move on to round three of the OMHA 'DD-D' play downs. The team as a whole gave a much better effort than in the previous two contests. Travis Cressman opened up the scoring four minutes into the game on a pass from Connor Brand and Mitch Finlay. Ten seconds later Cressman potted his second from Finlay and Cody Merner to go up 2-0. The Wildcats netted a late one to make the score 2-1 good guys after one period, then knotted the score at two half way through the second. A Cody Merner slap shot from Cressman and Devon Steckle put Zurich up 3-2 headed to the intermission after two.
An inspiring pep talk from coaching brothers Jake and Luke Cooke set the stage for the third period. A goal mouth scramble part way through the third allowed Elma-Logan to tie the game at 3. A back and forth rest of the third with some close calls couldn't break the tie, the game would need to head to sudden death overtime to declare a winner. The OT was short lived as only 44 seconds in Steckle fired a break out pass around the boards to Cody Merner who saucered a pass up the middle to hit Cressman on the move, after sliding the puck through the last defenceman Cressman picked it back up and completed his hat trick with a bar down game/series winner. Goaltender Wade Coombs was solid in between the pipes for the victory, making many solid stops and had great rebound control. Other strong performers were Joe Mathonia, John Cooke and Tyler Merner. Great defensive efforts were given by Jacob LaPorte, Joe Lynn, Nathan King and Jake Earle. It has to be noted that the Wildcats were very classy and respectable squad in their defeat after a hard fought series. The Thunder will have their work cut out for them next series as they now move on to play a strong TCDMHA team (Tara/Chatsworth), just south of Owen Sound.