Mar 05, 2014 | mholzel | 1145 views
Midget Major Stars settle for split versus Attack
Special to the RTT
If you follow the history of the great game of hockey, you know it can be summed up in a thousand different ways. Hockey is a game of skill, luck, mistakes, perfection, opportunity, chances and more. Well, the midget major Stars opened up their semi-final showdown with the visitors from Owen Sound last weekend and the Attack got just what they wanted – a split – as the Attack took advantage of their opportunities and stunned the hometown Stars 5-2 last Saturday night. In Game 2 last Sunday, the offense was cooking up four powerplay tallies as the Stars dished out a 7-3 win to even the series at two points each.
Games 3 and 4 are being hosted by Owen Sound this weekend and the Stars will need to play even harder and find a way to steal a pair of wins. Daniel Tonietto got the start in the opener and midway through the first period, a turnover deep in the Stars’ zone was intercepted and the Attack was given an opportunity to grab the lead. The Attack would add three more goals in the second, one on a breakaway and another on a powerplay, to make it a 4-0 Attack advantage. Defenseman Dean Patterson fed Ryan Holzel by the faceoff circle and Holzel’s slapshot would find an opening for a 4-1 Owen Sound lead after two. In the third period, the Attack would get another powerplay goal and late in the contest, the Stars’ Jacob Damico would jam home a free puck in the crease and the visitors would steal Game 1. It was a much different outcome in Game 2 as the Stars’ skill came out and they rode four powerplay goals en route to a 7-3 victory. Only four minutes in, with the Stars a man up, it was Colin Leardi winning a battle for the rubber and he slid it back to Zak Parlette at the point and Parlette’s snapshot would give the Stars a 1-0 lead.Two minutes later, it was time to cheer again as the Stars’ Marshal Laing would find Cory Burns and Burns would find Mitch Holden’s blade and Holden’s shot would give the Stars a 2-0 lead. The Attack would cut the lead in half as Stars goalie Thomas Demarco’s rebound was gobbled up by an Attack forward for a 2-1 game.The Stars would scratch out a pair of goals before time expired in the first period as a Leardi shot was stopped but the lucky rebound ended up on Noah Renaud’s stick for a simple redirect. An unassisted goal by Michael Ciccone on a wraparound off the goalie’s skate blade gave the Stars a 4-1 lead.Once again, the Attack came back by scoring early off of a rebound but only three minutes later, a rink-wide pass from Leardi to Holden led to Holden’s second of the game. The Attack would get one back off a faceoff in the Attack zone but with just over one minute left in the middle period, the Holzel-Robbie Lavoie-Leardi combo would double the Stars lead again to 6-3. The Stars would finish off the scoring with a late powerplay goal as Holzel spotted Lavoie cross crease for an easy tap in and the Stars would even the series at two points each. After the Game 2 victory, Ciccone replied: “We were the better team today. If we can put two good games like today up in Owen Sound, I think we can do it. The forwards all played better and our powerplay is getting good chances to score and they are.”If the Stars split the two games in Owen Sound this Friday and Saturday, a Game 5 will be at home in Amherstburg Sunday at 3:30 p.m.