Dec 17, 2018 | Valerie Young | 769 views
Return to League Play - Lucky 62
December 16 marked the first league games for Athens 14U A Bronze in a month. The team traveled to Newark to win both games 6-1 at Lou & Gib Reese Ice Arena. Currently for the season, the team has 62 goals, 62 assists, and 62 penalty minutes.
Game 1
In the first period, the team seemed to struggle to find their rhythm. In spite of having the puck in the opposing zone regularly, the team could not put together a convincing test of the goalie. Each team took one 2&10 for checking from behind in the 1st period. The dam broke loose in the 2nd period, with Luke putting away 4 unanswered goals, assisted by Javier, Charlie, and John. Luke thus earned the team's first hat trick patch of the season. In the 3rd, Braiden scored with an assist by Luke, and Luke scored a 5th goal, assisted by Patricia. Although most of the play was in Newark's defensive zone, the home team had several exciting odd-man rushes, but goalie Ian stood firm. Late in the 3rd, Ian made a heart-stopping diving save across the net, and then, unfortunately, nudged the puck across the goal line himself with the butt of his stick to lose the shut-out.
Game 2
Your faithful correspondent was unable to watch Game 2, as chauffeur services to Easton were required for Ian, making his first appearance for the Athens Varsity to stand in for their goalie, who is out with a concussion. Owen took over net minder duties and proved again the depth of this 14U team, recording 27 saves on 28 shots. The team resumed its more usual distribution of points in Game 2, with John scoring in the 1st and 2nd (assists from Javier and Kyle), Braiden scoring in the 2nd and 3rd (both assisted by John), and Javier (assisted by Luke) and Luke (assisted by Kyle) each scoring one goal. The game was a bit scrappier, with Newark recording 5 assorted minor penalties, and Athens recording 3 minors for tripping, and one 2&10 for checking from behind.
With these two wins, Athens 14U moves into first place in their division of the BTHL, with a league record of 5-0-1, and a goal difference of 25. The team's overall record for the season is 8-5-3, not including preseason seeding. Moving into the holiday season, the team has 10 home games coming up between now and January 6.