September 29, 2011

Allison Snelling

GRAVENHURST — The South Muskoka Shield split its weekend games, taking only two points from a victory over the Lefroy Wave at home Friday night.
New to the league, the Wave showed signs that it will be a force to be reckoned with, said Shield head coach Dallyn Telford.
“They are fast, young and very determined,” he said, noting shots on net were close between the Shield’s 50 and Lefroy’s 47. “The Wave competed on all levels with us.”
Through the first period, both teams managed to get on the scoreboard with back and forth scoring. By the end of the frame, the Shield was ahead 3-2 thanks to goals by Dylan Sontag, Travis White and Erik MacPherson.
South Muskoka kept a strong advantage over the Wave into the second period with White scoring just 27 seconds in to make it 4-2.
Forward Donny Danroth further edged the lead with a successful penalty shot to make the score 5-2, but Lefroy fought back to keep the game close, scoring on two consecutive power plays to bring the score to 5-4.
More than halfway through the frame, the Shield pulled starting goalie Rob Sutherland and replaced him with Tanner Swift, who managed to hold the Wave scoreless for his 27 minutes of play between the pipes.
Brandon Luksa helped rebuild the Shield’s lead, scoring an unassisted goal with less than five minutes remaining in the period.
“Although our strong offence continued, we again were sub-par in our own end of the rink, allowing far too many odd man rushes and second chance opportunities,” Telford said. “Something we will have to continue to work on is our ability to switch from offence to defence or vice versa through the neutral zone. In order for us to have success, we need to focus on defensive hockey.”
Ahead by two goals, the Shield kept up the pressure early in the third period. Sontag and Ryan Miller gave the team some added insurance, each notching goals to bring the score to 8-4, while the Shield’s defence managed to kill off three consecutive penalties to secure the win.
The team took Saturday off after its bout against the Vaughan Stars was rescheduled due to scheduling conflicts in Vaughan.
On Sunday, the Shield faced the Bradford Rattlers, recording a tough loss.
The Rattlers already handed South Muskoka its first shootout loss of the season.
“I thought we played well enough to win the game, but we had a few tough breaks with deflected goals and missed some key opportunities,” said Telford.
Swift got the start in net and made 14 saves to hold the Rattlers scoreless while the Shield jumped to an early 1-0 lead by the end of the first period.
Eighteen-year-old Dan Waugh, a forward from Midland, recorded the first marker, also his first with the team. Waugh was signed to the Shield over the weekend.
From there things started to get messy.
The competition quickly became a heated rivalry as tempers flared throughout the game and several fights broke out, Telford said.
With both sides serving penalties, each team had the chance to dominate in the power play, bringing the score to a 4-4 tie by the end of the middle frame.
Bradford kept up its assault, getting past Swift twice, once on the power play, to nudge the score to 6-4.
White cut the deficit to one around the halfway mark of the final period, but the Shield could not manage to tie the game and surrendered with a 6-5 loss.
“The game was fast, hard-hitting with great scoring chances at both ends of the ice,” Telford said. “Although we did not put forth a complete 60-minute effort, there were some very encouraging signs for our team. We worked hard, played physical, and were emotionally into the game.”
The Rattlers are leading the Greater Metro Hockey League with 10 points from a five-game win streak, while the Shield has settled into the standings with five points after four games.
Next week the Shield has two home games on the bill at Gravenhurst Centennial Centre. Friday night the team faces off against the Bobcaygeon Bucks at 8 p.m., followed by the Orangeville Americans Sunday at 7:30 p.m.