Jan 15, 2011 | erorseth | 884 views
'97 STARS SWEEP PLAYDOWN SERIES VS RIVERSIDE !!
The Amherstburg 97 Star's made team history Friday night by completing a sweep of their series against the Riverside Rangers and advancing to the next round in the playdowns! After being eliminated last season by Riverside the thought was that the 97 Star's should surpass that team, and after a year of patience and hard work the Star's completed that goal last night after winning 4-3 in overtime completing a 3 game sweep against the Rangers. The Bantam Minor's met Friday night at the WFCU for an 8:00 start against Riverside in what would promise to be an all or nothing affair for the Rangers as they faced elimination after losing the first two games to the Star's. (contd)
As the game began the Star's set the pace early by digging in hard but found themselves in the penalty box early. As Riverside was on a powerplay, they opened the scoring 1-0. Shortly after, #7 Bastien would get on the board off a well placed pass from #9 Burns making the score 1-1. Amherstburg's goalie Werner was tested early and stood strong after a flurry of activity in his crease left him using a defenseman's stick for over a minute, but still keeping the puck out of the mesh! Again in the first #99 Meloche rang one off the post nearly doubling the score. Then early in the second the Ranger's managed a breakaway shorthanded goal to once again take the lead 2-1. Then the Star's stepped up the pace even higher and late in the 2nd #25 Damico scored assisted by #7 Bastien to knot the game 2-2 heading into the intermission. The third period would prove to be a back and forth battle of wills. The 97 Star's played hard and then #8 Holden would score the go ahead goal off a perfect pass from #55 Lenson during a perfectly executed two on one breakout, the Star's now lead 3-2. Later in the third Riverside came back to tie the game once again at 3-3. #30 Werner would stand strong between the pipes and stopped many Ranger's shots to keep the game knotted including a point blank slap shot which he gloved with 12 seconds left to send the game to overtime! Overtime would be a 10:00 sudden death format, and for Riverside it was all or nothing as they faced elimination. The period found many good opportunities for both teams however as with the rest of the game hard work and persistence found the 97 Star's dominating the play and as it should have been they were rewarded. At 4:27 of overtime the Bantam 97's own #9 Burns scored the game winner off a well placed assist from #55 Lenson and #5 Pardo, winning the game and completing the series sweep to advance the Star's to the next round!! This was followed by the whole 97 roster mobbing the goalie Werner, Burns, Lenson, Pardo and everyone else in celebration!! Final score 4-3 STARS! After a year of waiting, the Bantam Minor 97 Stars found their place and are back in position to advance in the OMHA playdowns!! Congratulations to all of our hardworking 97 Star's and to the great work of the coaching staff!! Bring on St. Thomas!!
GO STARS !!