The Legion Peewee rep team recently played 3 exciting overtime
games against Minto. On Monday, Feb 2 in
Walkerton, the action began on a first period penalty kill, when centre Tyson
MacLennan kicked up a blocked shot and went low with a backhander to open the
scoring. Minto tied the score when a point shot deflected off a skate to get
past goalie Ryan Bester, but Walkerton regained the lead when Kyle “Digger”
Paulitzki set up MacLennan for his second of the game. It was 2-2 in the third when Bailey Zettler
took a long lead pass from defenseman Kurt Biesenthall and blasted one through
traffic from the hash marks to beat the Minto netminder. Zettler got his second of the game slamming in
a Lucas Bester rebound, but Minto came roaring back to tie the game in the
dying seconds, and later scored the winner in sudden death OT to hand Walkerton
a disappointing loss.
Wednesday night, back in Harriston for a rematch, the Walkerton boys found themselves down 1-0 when Matt Lang got a rebound and found the back of the net to tie the game. In the second period, Walkerton came alive with a great powerplay effort, as Lucas Bester, Zettler, Biesenthall, Brayden Davidson, and Justin Donnelly cycled the puck and kept pressure on the goalie, until Donnelly found the net to take the lead 2-1. Walkerton’s great hustle and determination was typified by the backchecking of forward Ryan Young, who came racing back to help the defence break up a number of plays, and the goalkeeping of Reed Leslie who made a number of key saves. Lang got his second of the game to put Walkerton ahead 3-1, but Minto came back with 2 quick goals to tie the game. Walkerton kept the pressure on in the 3rd with defensemen Luke Zettel and Jackson Stark pounding shots from the point, but neither team could score through the remainder of the third and a 10-minute overtime, so the game ended in a 3-3 draw.
Friday night, Feb 5, the series returned to Walkerton for the final game. After a scoreless first period, Minto opened the scoring on a power-play goal. Then it was time for MacLennan to take control, streaking down the left wing and making a nice move on the goalie to tie the score, and scoring a second goal to put the home team up 2-1. Minto tied the game in the 3rd, but Walkerton continued to pour on the pressure with a nice passing play, Zettel and Tyler Goetz setting up MacLennan for a shot, the rebound going to Isaac Elliot, who just missed on the short side, and it was back to overtime for the 3rd straight game. 5 minutes into OT, Biesenthall made a huge play to break up a 2-on-1 and keep his team in the game, but the climax came with a minute to go in overtime, when Davidson blasted a shot from the point and Tyler Goetz slapped home the rebound for the win.