Norsemen Row Row Rowan the Wrong Boat

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It’s been a difficult season for the Eurekas so far, but they have still managed to come to the rink and have a good time despite their on ice struggles.  They have managed just a single regulation win and one in the shootout.  Their lone regulation win came on November 27th vs the same Norsemen they were facing last night, something that wasn’t lost on either team.

 

The Eurekas were making jokes in the pre game about how many goals the Norsemen would spot them to start the game, and about how this time they wouldn’t let their opposition score 4 times before they got a shot on net.  The Eurekas only had two lines and were staring at a Norsemen squad with 3 full lines up front and 5 defencemen.  Neither team had their official goaltender due to injury.

 

The Norsemen did indeed have the first few shots on goal, but Nick Stryniak stopped them, and the Eurekas got a few of their own in before the scoring started.  The Eurekas turned a puck over in the neutral zone and Connor Tousignant was coming full speed and took the puck back in the opposite direction.  He fired a shot that missed the net, but he followed it up and grabbed the puck off the boards before Stryniak got back to the post.  The shot went roof and it was 1-0 Norsemen.

 

Leighton Yeo then got sprung for a semi breakaway and Mike Bourgeois made a great backcheck on the play, lifting Leighton’s stick as he shot.  The puck then rolled under Bourgeois’s skate and he flew unceremoniously into the air, landing on his ass and looking around wondering that the hell had just happened.

 

Yeo would get a similar chance not long after and this time he got hauled down and the ref’s arm went up for the penalty shot.  Yeo came in on Trevor Pate and made a great deke, tucking the puck past an outstretched leg as the game was now tied 1-1.

 

Stephen Warwick would bring the puck into the Eurekas zone a couple shifts later with his shifty edges.  Using a teammate’s stick as his wood one broke in half off a draw earlier, he made a move on Stryniak and looked like he may get it around the goaltender, but Stryniak got his leg out to keep the Norsemen to 1.  Just 10 seconds later, the puck was in the Norsemen end and a puck behind their net went off a stick and Rowan Ayers was ready. He made a quick spin and shot it in one move, and the puck flew into the net on the short side for his first of the season.  His excitement could be felt as far away as Truro.  If you felt the earth shake at 10:31pm, that was him.

 

The Eurekas bench was so full of energy that they were vibrating.  When you have a great teammate who hasn’t scored, all the boys share in the joy of the moment.  Rowan is that great teammate, the guy who is always positive, always works hard, always looks to learn more.

 

A goal by the Norsemen with 90 seconds to go in the first was originally called a good goal, but after a referee discussion, it was called off due to the net being off its pegs just before the puck went in.

 

Being outshot 19-12, the Eurekas took a 2-1 lead into the second period.  There was a nervous energy now coming from their bench as they could taste a victory, but knew how much of a threat the Norsemen posed.  So many good players, so many scoring chances probably incoming.

 

A cross crease pass and a wide open net, and Connor MacPherson roofed the puck to extend the Eurekas lead at 11:22 of the second.   Could this be the night the Eurekas find another win?  Well just 20 seconds later, some nice passing from the Norsemen resulted in Pete Swistun holding the puck behind the net, and finding Ryan DeWolfe in front.  DeWolfe quickly found the open spot on the blocker side to make it 3-2.  2 minutes later a similar looking play ended with Michael Cunningham being the man in front to convert and tie the game up.

 

The boys played 7 minutes of hockey without a goal at either end, the score still tied at 3, and then Jordan Kenny, after seeming to get hauled down in the Norsemen end, took a hooking penalty in his own end with just 1:21 to play in the game.  The Norsemen power play looked good, but the Eurekas made good use of their ability to ice the puck, and the clock ticked down, sending this game to the shootout.

 

Shooting first, Leighton Yeo.  Having scored earlier in the game on a penalty shot, had used up all his good luck as this time Pate stopped the deke.  The Norsemen sent Josh Stevens.  He tried going high glove side, but Stryniak got his arm on it.  Back to the Eurekas, they sent the man having a big night, Rowan Ayers.  Rowan came in and released a quick wrister as he hit the hash marks and it went in through the five hole to give the Eurekas the lead.  Blake Whebby looked to tie and went high glove just like Stevens, but he sailed it over the net.

 

Connor MacPherson stepped up to centre with the game in his gloves.  Score and it’s over.  He skates in, he’s leaning to his left, he fires back to the right, to the blocker of Pate.  Denied!  Blake Isenor, the Norsemen Captain, needed to make a big decision here, who to tap on the shoulder.  The tap came and the player whose shoulder Blake put his hand on was he himself, Blake.  Isenor skated in from the right side he cut across to the left and put the stick and puck between his legs.  He pulled it back to the front, to his backhand, but he put it too far and lost all hope of scoring.  The Eurekas did it, the Eurekas won!  Rowan Ayers with a goal in regulation, Rowan Ayers, the only man to score in the shootout, Rowan Ayers, Eurekas LEGEND.