February 15,
2025
Squaring up for a Saturday matinee in Cavan, your Millbrook Stars hosted
those Wile E. Coyotes for the second half of their double header.
The two sides played a tight opener, without too many high danger
opportunities. Late in the period, however, Kawartha managed to hit the back of
the cage on a quick release dart to take the lead.
A minute into the second frame, the Yotes struck again, this time on the
power play, giving them a 2-0 lead. This two-goal margin did not last long
though, as forward Elijah Dunlop lit the lamp on a Millbrook man-advantage,
pouncing on the rebound of Liam Carney’s point shot. The Coyotes regained their
two-goal lead a few minutes later with another power-player marker. Not backing
down, however, Millbrook kept coming at the Yotes. Forward Griffin Larmer put
home a frozen rope off a Dunlop feed, and centreman Simon Gillespie followed
suit shortly thereafter on a bullish move driving across the crease. When the buzzer sounded at the end of two, the
score was even at three apiece.
The Stars kept coming in the third and were rewarded five minutes in, as
the defenceman, Carney, found twine off a crisp point shot. The score stayed
this way for the majority of the frame, with Millbrook unable to drop the final
anvil on the Coyotes. Instead, with the goalie pulled, and on the power play
once more, the Yotes buried the equalizer with 35 seconds left on the clock –
and this is how the game would end. Make the final: 4 – 4.
Overall, this writer believes
it’s fair to say that today was an uneven performance. On the one hand, the
boys showed patience and resolve in clawing back from multiple two goal
deficits. On the other hand, we didn’t see the waves of attacking, the speed,
nor the connecting of smart passing that the boys are capable of delivering.
Also of note, in a forty-minute game, we took twenty minutes worth of penalties
- yes, ten minor penalties - perhaps making it difficult to gather the momentum
needed to put the Coyotes away. A four
game win streak comes to an end, but a five game unbeaten streak remains.
Next up, the fellas take their travelling show to Newcastle for a cosmic
collision of Stars vs Stars. Join us for an out-of-this-world experience – this
Wednesday, February 19, at 7:00pm at the Newcastle Memorial Arena.
Go Stars Go.
M. Carney