Feb. 12 was an exciting night, as it was game 1, of the best of 5 series against the Bienfait Coalers. These two teams are fairly evenly matched and so we all know, that these will be some great games to watch. This game proved to be a battle of the goalies, as they both had a lot of shots and came up with some huge saves.
The game started with a big save from Audet, followed by Walliser making a huge save on Turgeon’s nice shot. Turgeon later picks up on Fox’s rebound and scores! Cougars are on the board! A back-handed pass from Geiger, is what Fox needed to score the second goal of the game. Bienfait’s Kress, scores before the period ends to make it a 2-1 game.
The second period seemed pretty quiet, as there were no goals scored and not one penalty. Both teams tried their best to get one and the goalies denied them. Shots at the end of this period were Carlyle 25 and Bienfait 21.
The third proved to be full of action as Billy Greenwood is awarded with a Penalty shot. Greenwood snipes and the crowd erupted. 3-1 Cougars. The excitement was short-lived as Bienfait’s Dylan Herzberg scored 2 goals and tied the game up and we’re off to overtime - two periods of overtime.
The first 10 minute sudden-death period, was not long enough for either team to end the game. Audet made some stellar saves and the boys worked hard in front of him, wanting that OT goal! After a flood and a breather for the boys, they were back out for a 20 minute sudden-death period. Audet denied Bienfait’s wrap-around attempt to win. These OT periods seemed to have more penalties called than what you usually see. Nonetheless, Bienfait scored the winner with 10 seconds left in their power play. Bienfait gets game 1. Shots this game were: Carlyle 36 and Bienfait 49.
Editors note: Game 2 was played Feb. 15 in Bienfait and resulted in a 9-5 loss for the Cougars. Game 3 was played Feb. 19 with the Cougars getting the 5-2 victory.
