Shield sweeps Brock Bucks in three straight games
by Allyson Snelling
March 4th, 2009 at 5:00PM November 30th, 2011 6:30PM
The South Muskoka Shield advanced to the second, after eliminating the Brock Bucks in three straight games over the weekend.
Despite illness spreading through the dressing room, which kept at least one player — Shield captain Chris Vandertas — from lacing up his skates, the team muscled through and showed “real character,†said head coach Dallyn Telford.
The best-of-five series began at home Friday and continued in Beaverton Saturday night, before returning to home ice Sunday night. The Shield got better as the series went on, Telford said.
“It was our first three-game weekend in eight weeks,†said Telford. “But even still these guys played better in the regular season when they played more.â€
Telford said despite massive cold and flu-like symptoms, Shield players were committed to win their first playoff series in history. The team came back from two deficit scores to down the Bucks 3-2 and 12-6. The Shield easily won Sunday’s contest 5-1 after taking an early lead.
Friday night’s action at Gravenhurst Centennial Centre saw the return of Swede Dan (Andersson) Soderberg, and goalie Eric Pye in net with the start.
Pye was given an early reality check when Brock captain Peter Zimny hit him with a power-play goal in the opening half of the first period, and beat him again eight minutes later with both teams at full strength.
While South Muskoka seemed to outplay their Brock rivals, Bucks goalie Nikolajs Zurkovs from Latvia put on an outstanding performance and stoned the home team throughout the first period.
It wasn’t until 13:10 of the second frame that the Shield found its way past Zurkovs when Rob Childs chipped the puck over his glove and sent the crowd roaring.
Childs got a second chance to go one-on-one with Zurkovs with a penalty shot after a Brock player close-handed the puck in his goalie’s crease, but Zurkovs wouldn’t be beat by Childs again.
South Muskoka ramped things up in the final period and tied the game two-all when Troy Storm found the back of the net with just over eight minutes remaining, assisted by Childs and Sylvester Spencer.
With Brock serving a high-sticking penalty, Chad Meagher capitalized on the man advantage with help from Dylan Sontag and Dylan Coté and broke the stalemate to put the Shield in front 3-2.
Game two in Beaverton was an exciting match, but the 12-6 score favouring the Shield was not indicative of the game, said Telford.
Down 6-5 after the middle frame, Telford had to make some changes between the pipes.
“Both of our goalies got a serious earful after the second period,†he said. Valentine started the game, but after allowing five goals Pye was sent in and stopped the first shot, but not the second. Valentine started the final period and held the Bucks to their six goals, while the Shield offence came out to win and scored seven goals on Zurkovs in the last period.
Soderberg dominated Saturday’s game with five points and Sontag also collected five points, while Ricky Greenslade earned four points and Travis Saltz and Meagher each had three. Goals were also scored by Adam MacBeth, Derek Rodgers, Coté and Spencer.
“The goalies have been there to bail out their teammates when they’re not playing so well and this time our skaters bailed out our goalies, which shows a lot of character,†said Telford.
The win gave the Shield the confidence boost it needed before returning to home ice for Sunday’s game.
Brock played Mike Haverlock in net as Zurkovs likely needed a break from the beating Shield players laid on him the night before.
Soderberg notched the only two goals of the first period to give the Shield a 2-0 lead and Matt Foley kept the momentum going in the second period with a marker at 1:53, assisted by Tim Wender and MacBeth.
Brock retaliated with a power-play goal on Valentine while Saltz was serving two minutes for roughing, but Valentine held the Bucks at one for the remainder of the game, while Manuel Oberleitner and Rodgers added to the Shield’s assault with two more markers. Shots on net were 51 for the Shield versus 35 for Brock.
“We’re 25 per cent of the way there,†said Telford following Sunday’s sweep of the series. “Our mission is clear. This is the first step, but now we have to play a better team. That will be the trend we face for the next four weeks.â€
The Nipissing Alouettes swept the Oro-Medonte 77’s over the weekend, and will face the Shield this weekend in the GMHL northern division semifinal. The first game will be played at home Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. Game 2 goes Friday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m., before the team heads to Sturgeon Falls on Saturday.
The winner will face the Elliot Lake Bobcats in the division finals the following week.
In terms of the south division, Deseronto advanced to the semifinals after sweeping King City in three straight games. The Ontario Lightning Rams and Innisfil Lakers continue to battle it out for a spot in the semifinals, as do the Bradford Rattlers and Toronto Canada Moose. One team will have to take a bye before division finals take place.
The winners of both division finals will play each other in the Russell Cup.