Jan 08, 2012 | Howie Pruden | 947 views
Lightning in tough at Guelph
Saugeen travelled to Guelph for a weekend tournament and drew a very tough schedule playing London and Sarnia who are both rated in the top four in Canada. Needing to win 2 of three games to advance Saugeen played one of their best games of the season losing 2-1 to London. The Lightning came out flat in a must win game vs Sarnia and dropped a 5-0 decision. A 1-1 tie against Niagara Falls rounded out the tournament.
2 excellent games out of three for the girls.
London 2 Lightning 1. London came out quick and scored 2 early goals in the first 5 minutes of the game. Saugeen played excellent hockey and was rewarded with a second period goal to cut the lead to one. Sam Pruden carried the puck out of her end and hit Amy Hepburn up the middle for a break away. Amy kicked the puck to her skate and came in alone and went high on the goalie on a beautiful goal. Saugeen had many scoring chances in the second and third but could not find the equalizer.
" A great game with us outscoring them in the last two periods. It was a game we could have easily won. It shows us how close we are to being able to beat one of the top 2 teams in Canada." Emma Bluhm played a great game in net making many excellent saves to give us a chance to win the game.
Sarnia 5 Saugeen 0. After a big break between games Saugeen came out flat and Sarnia had no problems putting Saugeen away. There was little effort and only sporadic glimpses of offence. That loss eliminated Saugeen from the tournament.
Niagara Falls 1 Saugeen 1. Saugeen came back with a lot better effort and outplayed Niagara but could not get the go ahead goal. Jenah Van Loon scored mid through the first period to give Saugeen the early lead. Niagara scored late in the first to tie the game up. Saugeen had 3 posts and many great shots but the Niagara goalie kept them in the game. Emma Bluhm again played excellent and made some big saves.
" Great Goaltending and disciplined hockey (staying out of penalty box) will carry us through the playoffs. We have showed we can play with the best but we need to be more consistent every game and not take shifts off.