Mar 21, 2011 | jhackett | 1303 views
Alliance Playoffs Finals Game #4 vs Hamilton Reps
With their backs against the wall the Lambton Jr. Sting took to the ice on Sunday afternoon trailing 4 points to 2 in the 6 point series.
A loss would give Hamilton the series win. With that in mind the Jr. Sting went to the ice knowing nothing but their best would suffice. Lambton had a strong start to the game and carried the play right from the opening face-off. The Jr. Sting were awarded a power play half way through the first period and Jack Hackett buried one from close range with Jared Pageau and Max Steeves picking up helpers after some nice passing by all five players on the ice. Hamilton would reply with just over two minutes to go when their winger snapped one on net off the face-off and it would be deflected up and over a surprised Ethan Hunt in the Jr. Sting net. The Reps would add another with just one tick on the clock when a seemingly harmless wrist-shot from the hash marks found its way through the catching glove of Hunt. The first period ended with the Jr. Sting down 2-1 but having controlled the play for most of the period. The start of the second period would show how much heart this team has.
The second period saw the Jr. Sting players and net-minder bounce back with some strong offensive and defensive play. Lambton would tie things up when Nick DiScanno barged his way to net, knocking a Hamilton defender out of his way after receiving a long breakout pass from Garrett Miller. Steeves would be the beneficiary of DiScanno’s shot on net and he would pot the rebound to score the second Jr.Sting goal and tie the score at 2-2.
The third period saw the Jr. Sting continue their big effort and Steeves sniped his second of the game when he slid one into the open side of the net after some good work from Pageau and Ryan Brown on the point. Unfortunately the lead was short-lived as the Reps jumped on an opportunity and sprung a guy free for a breakaway and the tying goal. Both Hamilton and Lambton would take turns controlling the play through the remainder of regulation but thanks to some strong defensive work by the Jr. Sting the score remained knotted at 3’s.
Despite some good chances at both ends the five-minute sudden-death overtime did not produce a winner and the final was 3-3. The Jr. Sting will now travel to Hamilton on Friday trying to extend the series to six games, knowing only a win will do the trick.
Max Steeves had two goals and one assist.
Jared Pageau had two assists.
Jack Hackett had one goal.
Nick DiScanno, Garrett Miller and Ryan Brown each had one assist.
Ethan Hunt was solid in net.