The Slegg Lumber Bolts defeated the Preferred Woodfinishing Wookies 9-4 in the first weekend of CVMHA PeeWee house playoffs last Sunday morning.
An early first period tripping penalty by Kyle Kristmanson of the Wookies put the Sleggs on the power play. Jennifer Hampton put the Bolts on the board as she made a full rink rush and nailed the puck past Wookie goaltender Nicholas Mitchell. Five minutes later, the Bolts put another one in as Dylan McDonald made a beauty pass to Sammy Helpard who laid a beautiful backhanded goal top shelf.
The Wookies got their offence going on an assist from both Kyle Kristmanson and Alex Noringseth to forward Aubrey Brass who put a dead ringer past Slegg goalie Isaac Rankin. Andrew Chartrand of the Bolts got sent to the box for cross-checking but this only seemed to fuel the momentum for Slegg and another short-handed goal was put in less than a minute later when Bentley Barth assisted McDonald who took the final score for the first period to 3-1 for Slegg.
Stephen Cafik demonstrated excellent defence for the Bolts in this period and Cassius Monnet showed great finesse with his puck handling and a few spin-a-ramas making some crucial plays.
In the second period the Bolts didn’t waste any time getting to business when Barth set up Dylan Cherrett who put in the fourth goal just one minute into the period. Preferred Woodfinishing began to tighten up their defence and the next goal was Brass again for the Wookies who knocked in a roofer. Just over a minute later, Helpard took an assist from Cherrett and Barth in an eye-for-an eye payback goal.
Brass then set up Noringseth who delivered the Wookies’ third goal. Hampton demonstrated her great determination and out-manoeuvered many of kids on the ice, continuing to make key plays and passes in the second. With just seconds left on the clock, Brass again showed his command when he ripped one at Bolts’ goalie Rankin, but Rankin stopped him dead in his tracks with a quick reaction glove save, ending the period for Bolts with a 5-3 lead.
Another fast and furious start to the third period saw McDonald pass the biscuit to Barth at the Slegg blue line who took it for a breakaway and put in a top-roof zinger less than a minute into the period. Wookies’ Brass was next on the board when he took another assist from Noringseth to make it 6-4.
Monnet’s agility paid off when he held his ground in a net scramble and got one in past Mitchell. Bolts’ Jaden Wojtalik got on the board when he scored off a pass from Barth. Team captain Helpard was a constant force to be reckoned with, directing the play throughout the game and taking advantage of any shot opportunities.
Preferred Woodfinishing took a couple of late penalties and the Bolts sneaked in another power-play goal when Monnet tallied off an assist from Ethan Scrase and Hampton.
– Comox Valley Minor Hockey Association
