Pownal Cruises to Win Over Sherwood

The Pownal Novice AA boys were dressed in style on Saturday  with new matching socks on the ice, and new track suits to wear when they left the rink, but they looked their best between the opening face off and the final buzzer.  The home team dictated the play from beginning to end in a game that ended with a score of 6-4.  

 

In the first period, Logan Gregory opened the scoring for the Red Devils with an unassisted breakaway goal. Logan used a nice flip shot to bury it top corner on the glove side.

 

Later in the first period Luke MacDougall chipped the puck to Evan Nicholson who moved the puck through the Sherwood defenceman's feet (reminiscent of Mario Lemieux's move on Ray Bourque......#3 in this video http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0cvdnpdiRWw ) and then moved in alone and scored with a high wrist shot.

 

With the score 2-1 Red Devils in the second, goaltender Jevon Morrow came up with a huge save on a breakaway to preserve the lead.  Aiden Wilson (from Evan Nicholson and Alexander Keus) made it 3-1 Pownal with a hard shot from a sharp angle that surprised the Sherwood goaltender.

 

Later in the second Pownal's Matthew MacLean fed Owen MacPherson a beautiful backhand pass and Owen showed his soft hands by making a TSN-worthy deke and slipping the puck into the open net to give Pownal a 4-3 lead.  

 

Evan Nicholson put Pownal up 5-3 in the third with his 2nd of the game, but Sherwood responded quickly to make it 5-4.

 

With 30 seconds left in the game, Pownal shorthanded, and the face-off in the Pownal end, the Sherwood team decided to pull their goaltender. Red Devils coach Duane Smith sent Owen MacPherson out to take the draw.   Owen controlled the puck off the face off and chipped it up the boards. Marshall Lea used his speed to get to the puck before any Sherwood player and put it in the empty net to seal the victory for the home team.

 

After the game one Pownal fan was overheard saying "It was a great team effort. Everybody chipped in and contributed to the win."  Another fan noted that "Abby Larkin played her best game of the year. She skated well and made several key defensive plays."

 

Without question, this Pownal team has to be considered a favourite going into next week's Early Bird Tournament.