Mar 21, 2016 | cshanks | 966 views
PW B Lynx get Big Win in 1st Game of LL Round 3
Lindsay traveled to Whitby for Game 1 of the final round of Lower Lakes Playoffs last night and came away with a hard fought 3-2 win.
The Lynx came out flying and hungry after a 2 week layoff. Relentless pressure on the 1st shift almost saw the Lynx take an early 1-0 lead as the line of Kayla Golden, Mya Mattiussi and Gracie Cunday with support from the defense of Hannah Vallier and Emma Shanks kept the Wildcats hemmed in their own end. This was followed up by another strong shift with scoring chances from the line of Maddy Donnelly, Nixon Francis and Taylor Allen with the D-pairing of Julia Sudsbury and Emma Lees. However the Wildcat goalie made some great saves and kept the game scoreless.
However, the Lynx would finally open the scoring 7 minutes into the game as a great forecheck by Kayla Golden and Nixon Francis created a goalmouth scramble and Gracie Cunday was able to bang home the opening goal (with Golden and Francis getting the assists). Then on the next shift and just 38 seconds later a great pinch by Hannah Vallier created a turnover and Taylor Allen made a nice short pass to Maddy Donnelly who fired a shot top shelf to give the Lynx the 2-0 lead (assists to Allen and Vallier).
The start of the 2nd period saw the Wildcats get their first good scoring chance and they went down the ice on the opening draw but Emma Francois made a big save to keep the game 2-0. The line of Julia Staniland, Laura Brown and Taryn Lindquist then had a dominant shift with good scoring chances from both Brown and Lindquist but again the Wildcat goalie stood tall to keep the score 2-0. With just over 7 minutes to go in the period the Wildcats went on an odd man rush and were able to get on the board with a great top corner shot over Emma Francois' blocker. This seemed to give them life as 4 minutes later a Wildcat player stole a pass back to the point and went in on a breakaway and made a great backhand deke to tie the score at 2. The Lynx bounced back strong and just a couple of minutes later and with only 55 seconds remaining in the 2nd period Laura Brown finished off a strong shift by the line of Staniland, Lindquist and Brown and was able to bang home a rebound off of an Emma Shanks shot to put the Lynx back up 3-2 (assists to Shanks and Staniland).
The 3rd period was tightly contested but saw the Lynx keep the puck in the Wildcat end for the majority of play to keep the 1 goal lead and prevent any real threats. However, Emma Francois was called on again as a Wildcat player got loose and fired a hard shot from the hashmarks which Emma was able to save and cover the rebound. With 1:17 to go a Lynx defensive zone face-off saw the Wildcats pull their goalie. The group of Kayla Golden, Maddy Donnelly, Gracie Cunday, Emma Shanks and Hannah Vallier was able to repeatedly get the puck out of their end and limit any scoring chances. But their was one final chance as a Wildcat player was able to go for a rush up the ice and get a partial breakaway with less than 10 seconds on the clock but a great backcheck and stick lift by Hannah Vallier prevented a scoring chance and the Lynx held on for the 3-2 win and 1-0 series lead.
The Lynx will look to wrap up the series on Wednesday at 7 pm at Oakwood in hopes of advancing to the LL Championship Weekend. Go LYNX Go!!