Dec 15, 2014 | Dan Culbert | 290 views
.500 Not Enough To Advance
Needing 5 points to earn a semi-final berth, the Mortgage Financial 99ers went 2 and 2 and lost out in a tie-breaker at the Waterloo Memorial Tournament.
The team started strong on Friday morning with a solid 5-1 win over the Cambridge Hawks. The 99ers took a first period 1-0 lead when Andrew Kitchen converted mid way through the period with Zak Culbert and Nathan Foster drawing assists. The defense took over in the second, as the 99ers extended the lead to 3-0 on goals by Kyle Jackman and Connor Vorwald while holding the Hawks to just 3 shots on goal. Assists in the period went to Carlo Restelli, Max Klunder, Dustin Moore and Kitchen.
After an unassisted PP goal gave the Hawks some hope in the 3rd, the 99ers answered right back just 37 seconds into their first PP of the period when Klunder restored the 3 goal lead on a nice pass from Andrew Brown. Jonah Ferreira rounded out the scoring with just over 2 mins to go as Brown and Kitchen both added their second assists of the game. While not busy, Kevin Dawdy was solid in the win.
Game two was against the Kitchener Rangers, and the 99ers came out flat early in the second game of the day as despite having the only 2 PP's of the 1st period, it was the Rangers who scored the only goal of the period. The extended the lead to 2-0 less than 2 mins into the 2nd on an unassisted marker and took this lead into the 3rd. An early 3rd period PP goal by Culbert with assists going to Ferreira and Brown closed the gap and 3 mins later Justin Malcolm used a great burst of speed to come off the bench and taking a pass from Brown, tied things up with a nice slapshot from the left wing. Just when it looked like the 99ers were going to come all the way back, the Rangers scored to snatch the game away 3-2 and handed the 99ers what turned out to be a very important loss as this head to head tie-breaker eventually eliminated Brantford.
Game 3 Saturday morning was the mirror opposite of the Kitchener game. Where after a slow start, the 99ers outplayed and out-chanced Kitchener in the loss, the boys came out fast and held the territorial and shots advantage early before slowing and allowing the Mustangs to take control. After a scoreless first, despite a fast Mustangs team winning most of the races, Brantford took the lead when Moore scored off the rush with helpers going to Brandon Hunks and Jackman. Two and a half minutes later the Mustangs cashed in on one of their chances to tie things up and nearly took the lead after getting the puck behind Jake Gooder in the 99er nets, but in each case the puck stayed out. The Mustangs kept coming and just like the Rangers a day earlier, the 99ers got the eventual winner when Jonah Ferreira pressed in on a great forecheck, creating a turnover with a big hit before picking up the rebound off the side of net and scoring. Culbert and Restelli drew assists on the game winner and Gooder battle through some rust after a long injury layoff as the 99ers gained their second win of the tournament.
The afternoon game against Windsor Spitfires was a good fast affair with both teams looking to earn points and move into the semis. The teams went scoreless through the first period and a half before the Spitfires opened the scoring with an unassisted marker at 6:42 of the second. In a give and take game, neither team was willing to give an inch and an early 3rd period PP looked like it was time for the 99ers to draw even. However, another unassisted goal, this time short handed took the heart out of the team and even though there was lots of time left, the boys never recovered and the loss eliminated them on the tiebreaker with Kitchener.