March 19,
2025
Let me set the stage for you:
It’s game 1 of the Victoria-Durham League Championship. Your Millbrook
Stars are set to battle the Newcastle Stars in a best of 3, winner-take-all
series. Millbrook is at home, and the
barn is packed. Hearts are beating fast, adrenaline is pumping. Metallica’s Enter
Sandman is playing, and the boys are ready to roll.
Yes, from the drop of the puck, the energy levels were high, and play
was intense. Both goalies were tested early, and both goalies looked sharp.
Millbrook appeared to have a slight edge early on in carrying the play, but
were unable to capitalize until centreman Simon Gillespie lit the lamp with
6:45 remaining in the period. Despite best efforts, nothing further was settled
in the frame, and Millbrook took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
The second period seemed to be more back-and-forth with chances being
traded. As the period wore on, Newcastle began to find their stride and managed
to put our players back on their heels at times. Sure enough, Newcastle struck
for the equalizer later in the frame, and the teams settled for a 1-1 draw
heading into the second intermission.
Millbrook charged out of the gate in the third period. Putting an
exclamation mark on a heavily charged shift from the Dunlop-Gillespie-Adams
line, it was forward Connor Adams who capitalized on a loose puck and snapped a
low laser passed the Newcastle keeper, giving Millbrook a 2-1 lead. But
Newcastle was not done by any means – they kept pressing, and eventually beat
the Millbrook keeper, who looked screened on the play. Millbrook had several
high-danger chances to win the game late in the third, but nothing was decided
during regulation. The third period ended with the score squared at two.
A tie game was not in the cards tonight. No – this game needed a winner.
And so, off we went to a ten-minute, sudden death, 3-on-3 overtime. No stress, eh? With this writer’s cardiovascular
system barely hanging on, overtime began with Millbrook controlling the play.
In a high-pressure situation, the boys played calmly and collected, passing the
puck around well, creating multiple point-blank chances to win the game – but a
hot Newcastle goalie came up huge, time and time again. Newcastle marched down
the ice for a couple of chances of their own, but keeper Jennings was equal to
the task. Finally, it was the captain, Simon Gillespie who led the charge into
the offensive zone, getting off a shot and then banging in his own rebound for
the winner.
Game over. Millbrook wins. Exhale.
The crowd goes wild.
What a game. What a finish.
This may not go down as the prettiest game the boys have ever played,
but full credit goes to all of them for battling hard and never giving up.
Game 1 is in the books, but the series is far from over. It takes two to
win. Your Millbrook Stars will get that opportunity this coming Saturday, at 2:00pm,
at the Newcastle Memorial Arena. Join us! Let’s pack the house with Millbrook
fans.
Go Stars Go.
M. Carney