Tuesday, October 1st marked Ancaster Minor Atom’s home opener, a much anticipated game. The Avalanche were off to a great start on the road, but how would they fair against the Oakville Rangers - a strong team and one the Avs hadn’t been able to crack last year.
The game opened at a quick pace with early pressure from Oakville but Travis Legein and Sam Walton were persistent in clearing the puck at every opportunity. An intercepted pass by quick moving winger Mark Robertson led to Ancaster's first breakaway. In all alone, Robertson almost got a clean shot away. Minutes later, Robertson broke through again, taking a slap shot and almost scoring on his own rebound. The first power play of the game went to Oakville with 57 seconds left in the first; but it was the Avs who were able to break free with John Bulmer and Dayten Stockford on the odd man rush, for a short-handed chance.
Scoreless heading into the second, and Oakville still with the man-advantage, Matt Wieske got his pad out to save the only shot of the power play. Back at full strength, Branden Lindley muscled the puck from an opponent, putting it on the stick of Erik Fletcher. Fletcher splitting the defense, headed for the net, firing a wrist shot that just missed the glove side. With Oakville coming harder and faster, Colin Marley showed some tough back checking in dumping the puck out of the Avs end determined not to let a shot through. Fletcher quickly moved the puck up the ice, sending a nice pass to Todd Barta whose shot bounced off the goalie’s pad. Nicholas McMullen was on the doorstep to pick up the rebound and put the Avs ahead 1-0. Fighting to even the score, Oakville’s offense came in waves only to be turned away by net minder Wieske, making save after save through heavy traffic in front.
Frustrated by Ancaster’s solid offensive play, Oakville took two consecutive penalties in the third, giving the Avs the extended power play. Branden Lindley and Trevor Viersen held the blue line while Robby Pellizzari sent a heads up pass to D.J. Nedelko who almost hit the five hole. A face-off deep in the Ranger’s end was smartly won by Ancaster and sent to the net where Stockford took a bad angle shot that almost trickled over the line.
With 5:50 left in the third, Oakville went on the power play forcing the Avs defense to block more shots than the Toronto Maple Leafs at play-off time. Relentless in their attack, Oakville couldn’t get past Walton and Legein to get any real chances going. Another late break was stopped by Viersen and Barta, who paired up to take their man off the puck with some good bodywork. Unable to control play in the final minutes of the game, the Rangers couldn’t pull the goalie until it was too late. A tough opponent but an impressive Ancaster effort to win their first home game. Final Score: Ancaster 1, Oakville 0.
Back on the road, the 2 and 1 Avs traveled to Milton for the Saturday afternoon start. The Avs opened the scoring with Mark Robertson skating from his own blue line, speeding around several Milton players and sliding a hard shot in on the far side. Keeping the pressure on, Nicholas McMullen went on another break and just missed the top corner. Hard work on the boards paid off for D.J. Nedelko as he fought off a defender in the corner and sent a crisp pass to Todd Barta who made no mistake in burying it to put the Avs ahead 2-0.
Next it was Milton who scored to close the gap. Back in the Milton zone, Sam Walton kept the puck in, sending it around the back of the net to McMullen who made a nice pass out front to Erik Fletcher. Fletcher fired a bullet that went in over the goalie’s shoulder. Another goal by Milton made it 3-2 to end a fast paced first period. Midway through the second, Milton came back to tie the game, putting some pressure on Ancaster. Pellizzari made some quick moves to get the puck on the stick of Nedelko, who almost jammed it home. Lindley joined a rush minutes later, sending a cross-ice pass to Pellizzari, who just missed on his backhand. The Avs kept the offense coming with Legein breaking out with a pass on the tape of Kyle Hall. With the defense coming hard, Hall quickly sent the puck to John Bulmer whose hard shot beat the net minder to give Ancaster the go-ahead goal.
Milton came out hard in the third but Ancaster was determined to go home with the win. Logan Barrett was once again solid in net to keep his team ahead. Final Score: Ancaster 4, Milton 3.
