Excel’s
take games 1 and 2 on the road
After being swept
by the Lakeshores during the regular season, the
Excelsiors faced the daunting challenge of beginning
the best-of-seven MSL semi-finals with two games
in Barrie.
Due to other events
going on at the Molson Centre Game one was scheduled
for one of the worst driving days of the year. In
a show of true dedication the entire team arrived
over two hours prior to game-time and ready to take
their revenge.
Jeff Shattler opened
up the scoring 4 minutes in. Despite 3 consecutive
powerplays Barrie was unable to find an answer to
Brampton’s stellar defensive work. After a scuffle
broke out that saw three players from each team
enter the penalty box Aaron Wilson scored a great
3 on 3 goal. Barrie answered right back and the
period ended with Brampton up 2-1.
The second period
saw captain Dan Teat score career goal 499 and 500
after Barrie tied up the game momentarily. 4-2 Brampton.
The wheels had appeared
to fall off the bus and Brampton seemed stunned
as Barrie entered the third period short handed
and found a way to score the next 4 goals of the
game in under 2 minutes. Brampton finished off the
powerplay with another goal by Jeff Shattler, and
than scored their own short handed goal minutes
later when Mike Kirk took a nice feed from Shattler.
The two defenses continued
to take centre stage until Blaine Manning drove
through the middle and dove to pop in the game-winning
goal with 32 seconds left on the clock. Barrie had
one last chance, but the Brampton defense held tough
and secured the game 1 victory 7-6.
Game 2 saw the return
of Brodie Merrill, who had an immediate impact scoring
two goals for the visiting Excelsiors. The true
story of game was Brampton’s defense once again.
All of Barrie’s scoring was limited to 15 minutes
between the first and second period.
Goal
scorers for Brampton were Merrill with two while
Josh Sanderson, McCready, Shattler, Hominuck, and
Teat all had singles.
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