Mar 02, 2011 | dcahill | 2835 views
Athens Bantam Team Highlights
This article appeared in the Athens Messenger on Tuesday March 1, 2011...
The Athens Youth Bantam Hockey team has been in full swing since the beginning of the regular season in late November. Although our team has only 9 on the roster and no official goalie, our team has been able to defeat teams two and three times their size. Our net is often filled by Peewee’s Shen Cook or Brendan Sano, who have been willing to double roster and help us out this year. So far this season the cats have a league record of 7 and 4. The cats will host tournament games on March 26 and 27 at Bird arena. Come on out and support the Bantams and see what Athens Youth Hockey is all about. Keep on reading for some highlights from the last few league games.
Athens Bantam vs. Dublin Celtics Even though the Bantams only had six skaters, they managed to hold their own against the Dublin Celtics (currently in first place in the Mobile League) early in the day on January 22. And, despite being short-handed on the ice for nearly two full periods due to penalties, the four remaining skaters kept the Celtics to only three points. “We consider this effort a victory of sorts,” said Steve Hashman, head coach. “Our short bench held the number one team with a full bench of 15, to just three goals; that’s a major accomplishment for the Bantams.” Goalie Brandon Sano, (assisting from the Peewee team), stopped 19 of 22 shots. Penalties mounted against the Bobcat Bantams, but a strong defense by Nathan Rickey, Emily Fischer and all other members of the team, kept the normally high-scoring Celtics in check.
Athens Bantam vs. Flying Squirrels Facing the number one seed in the MOB League, the 9 Bantams struggled against the Flying Squirrels full bench of 18 on January 22. Undaunted by being outnumbered two-to-one, Dylan Rose hit the net early in the first period, assisted by Izziah Cahill. Sam McGee and Kristen Perry worked together to get the puck to Rose for another Bobcat goal. In period 2, Ethan Gates, in a scramble in front of the goal, found the net to score for the cats. Rose scored again, unassisted late in the second period to give him a hat trick (three goals in one game). In the third period, Gates scored on an assist from Kristen Perry to bring the cats total to 5. Defenseman Nathan Rickey had two penalties in this period, but kept up the defensive moves. Fatigue from having played a game earlier in the day, the Bantams lost momentum in the third period. Bantams lost 12 to 5.
Athens Bantam vs. Troy Bruins The Bantams played a strong and feisty game against the Troy Bruins on January 29 to snap a three game losing streak. Brett Perry scored twice with assistance from Ethan Gates, Dylan Rose, and Izziah Cahill. Dakota Hashman sniped a shot over the Bruins’ goalie’s shoulder on an assist from Emily Fischer. Dylan Rose found the net twice, assisted by Kristin Perry, giving him his 4th hat trick in regular season play—all this action in the first period. Cahill got the team’s only penalty in the first period. In the second period, the Bantams had three penalties served by Rose, Perry and Gates while the Bruins goalie was able to stop the cat’s attempts at scoring. Rose assisted by Brett Perry scored the final goal of the game in the third period. Brett received two penalties this period and Hashman one. Goalie Shen Cook stopped 16 Bruin shots giving the Bantams 6 to 3 win.
Athens Bantam vs. PRPC Pickerington Bobcat Bantams played a tight, precision game Sunday, Jan. 30 against the PRPC-Pickerington, defeating the Prowlers 7-1. “Every player kept their position, passing was good and accurate, and our defense worked hard to keep their puck out of our net,” said Steve Hashman, head coach. Four goals scored in the first period gave the cats a strong start. Brett Perry skated through the Prowlers to score with assistance from Kristin Perry. Ethan Gates followed up with two goals assisted by Dylan Rose. Rose found the net for the final goal of the first period on a pass from Brett. In the second period, Rose started the offensive push with at goal assisted by Sam McGee. Rose made a pass to Gates who scored and landed himself a hat trick. With three minutes left in the third period, McGee found the net on an assist from Rose and Emily Fischer. Goalie Brandon Sano stopped 25 of Pickerington’s 26 shots while assertive and sharp moves by defense players Nathan Rickey, Kristin Perry, Fischer, and McGee helped the Bantams with this decisive win.