Jan 08, 2018 | 2007Preds | 1341 views
Oshawa Challenge
The Elmvale Home Building Centre Major Atom AAA Predators took part in the Oshawa Challenge tournament this past weekend making it all the way to the championship game.
The Predators would open the tournament vs the Guelph Gryphons. The first period would find both teams trying to measure up it's opponent and end in a 0-0 score. North Central would take the lead in the second period, Guelph continued to press hard to try and tie the game, however the Predators would prevent them from finding the back of the net. We would end up scoring a late goal in the third period to win the first game 2-0.
NCP would enter game two vs. Mississauga Rebels. The Rebels would waste little time scoring a quick goal to start the period. Les than 2 minutes later they would go ahead by a score of 2-0. North Central would press to try and come back, however the Rebels would find themselves scoring another couple goals in the second period to take the 4-0 lead. Mississauga would round out the scoring with yet again another goal in the first minute of the 3rd period to win the game 5-0.
The Predators would put that game behind them and start fresh Saturday morning with a big win against the Oshawa Minor Generals. North Central would find themselves this time scoring within the first minute of the game to take a 1-0 lead. We would find the back of the net once more before the end of the period. NCP would take a 3-0 lead before Oshawa was able to respond and score a goal within the last minute of the 2nd period to make the game 3-1. We would find the back of the net 2 more times in the 3rd period to take the game 5-1.
In the final round robin game we would find ourselves matched against the Central Ontario Wolves. The first period had both teams exchange chances however neither team would find themselves on the scoring sheet. The Predators would find themselves scoring the first goal of the game at the midway point of the second period. Central Ontario continued to drive the net and would find themselves tying the game 1-1 to end the second. NCP would take control in the 3rd period and score 3 goals to end the game 4-1.
This would put us in second place in the round robin and in a match-up against the Guelph Gryphons in the semi finals. Both teams showed up ready to play and wanting to advance to the championship game. North Central would score the first goal of the game and would hold onto the lead all the way till the last minute of play in the third period. Guelph pulled the goalie and with the extra attacker they would tie the game. We would be headed to overtime. Playing 3 on 3 hockey in the extra period the Predators would find the back of the net taking the win and advancing to the finals.
We would find ourselves playing the Mississauga Rebels who went undefeated at this point in the tournament. Mississauga would once again start the game with a quick goal to start the game scoring 18 seconds from the drop of the puck. The Rebels would score another goal before the Predators would respond to make the game 2-1. The Rebels would quickly respond to this goal scoring 16 seconds later to take the 3-1 lead. The Rebels would prove their strength in starts of periods scoring yet again within the first minute of the second and third periods to take the 5-1 win.
We should all be proud of the way our team/players have performed, we continue to see improvements and the drive to want to succeed. We now have the week to rest and get ready for the Silver Stick next weekend in Sarnia. Keep your heads up and your feet moving !!!
Go Preds Go !!!