The Elora Rocks have put themselves in an enviable position after the first two games of their WOAA North 'AA' finals series against the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks. Boasting a 2-0 series lead after the opening weekend leaves the Rocks in full command of their fate with the possibility of five games left in this series.
Matt Snider played the role of hero for Elora in Game 1, as the Rocks rallied from a third-period deficit to beat the Winterhawks 5-4 in overtime. A night later, five different Rocks scored and the defence was lights-out as Elora downed Saugeen 5-1 to take charge of the series.
Game 1 began with visitors jumping on the scoreboard first - Tim Hammell scored less than a minute into a Jeremy O'Donnell cross-checking penalty to put the Winterhawks up less than three minutes into the game. Elora took their time getting their first goal posted, as Mike Brito notched it nearly halfway through the first 20 minutes. The Rocks didn't wait nearly as long for their second, as Jordan Fair put the Rocks ahead with a powerplay goal 6:30 from the intermission.
Elora's lead evaporated quickly as Jason Hutchinson and Brent MacDermid struck for goals less than a minute apart within the first three minutes of the second period. O'Donnell atoned for his penalty when he snapped home a screened shot from the blueline to tie the score - former Rock Matt Turcotte was called for a cross-check, and O'Donell's shot slipped past Jeremy Beatty after working through traffic in front of the Winterhawks' net.
Saugeen took the lead back just under four minutes into the third when Darryl McKinnon snapped a rebound past Blake Sinclair with Elora's Brandon Young in the box for elbowing. The lead was short-lived, as Jeremy Machin tied the score 1:06 later, setting up a frantic finish. Both teams took late penalties, with Elora's lasting 53 seconds into overtime. But after fighting it out for the first half of the extra frame, Machin led a rush down the ice and found a pinching Snider for the tip-in game winner.
Snider added a single assist, while Machin (2), Fair and Pat Shantz also had helpers.
Following the game, Rocks coach Kevin Lobsinger was pleased to get the win despite his team not playing its best hockey. A weak second period almost let the game slip away on Elora, and had their offence not saved them it could have been a different story heading to Port Elgin for Game 2.
"I thought that we were fighting the puck a lot tonight and as a result, we couldn't get any kind of flow going," he said. "That says something that we can still win when we don't have our best game going."
One of the observations that Lobsinger made as the game went on was Saugeen's tactic of playing just five defencemen - a tactic that played into Elora's strategy to some extent.
"When we saw that's what they were doing, we wanted to tire their guys down as much as we could," he said. "I know Thede logged a lot of ice time, but honestly he looked like he could've kept going all night if need be. We got a lot of traffic in front of Beatty, and since he's one of the few stand-up goalies left in the world, that plan worked."
Snider admitted that he was in the right place at the right time when he tipped Machin's pass by Beatty in overtime, and it likely didn't hurt that there was some traffic in front of the Winterhawks' net as he crashed his way in.
"Brito went past me and told me to jump up into the play - I think he was a little tired, so I went up and got my stick in the right place," he said. "I know we can play better than what we showed...we need to play hard and not take any shifts off. The four teams that are left are all very good teams, and you just can't be taking any shifts off against this level of competition."
Both teams missed out on chances to end the game sooner with late powerplays, and Snider said killing off the call against Rich Colwill late in the third period was huge for them. It also served as a reminder of the things they had to do better in order to win.
"In this league, that's just the way it goes sometimes and you just have to deal with it when you get calls like that," he said. "But it also shows that we have to get our speed going and we have to play honest defensively. You can't not back-check against a team like that because they'll burn you if you don't keep them honest."
Game 2 kicked off in a similar way to the opener, as the Winterhawks struck first for the early lead. MacDermid scored 5:39 into the game to give Saugeen their only lead of the night, and it lasted a little more than two minutes. As he had the night before, Brito responded with Elora's first goal which was followed up by a goal from Rod Bauman ust under two minutes later.
Instead of giving the lead back early in the second as they had in Game 1, Elora added to their advantage in the early going of the second period. O'Donnell ad Shantz struck 32 seconds apart to make it a 4-1 lead. That burst sapped most of the energy from the 'Hawks attack, and Sinclair stopped all 13 shots he saw in the frame to let Elora ride a wave of momentum into the third period. Machin put the finishing touches on the win when he scored 52 seconds into the final frame, while Sinclair came up with eight more saves (finishing with 34 on the night). Assists went to Machin (2), O'Donnell (2), Fair, Shantz and Brito.
"They're the defending champs - they battled back after being down 0-2 in Round 1, so that means they've got heart and they're a good team," Lobsinger said. "They beat another good team in Shelburne, and I think they're like us. When they need a goal, they seem to find a way to get it. I think whoever works harder and is hungrier in this series is going to find the ways to win."
Game 3 of the WOAA North 'AA' final will be played Friday, Mar. 12, in Elora starting at 8:30 p.m. The series shifts back to Port Elgin for Game 4 Saturday, Mar. 13, for another 8:30 p.m. start. If necessary, Game 5 is slated for Elora on Friday, Mar. 19 and Game 6 in Port Elgin on Saturday, Mar. 20. Both are 8:30 p.m. start times.