NIIHA Junior League Games Round 2

Posted on November 12, 2008 at 1:56 pm by Gareth Dorrian

Sunday 9th November saw the 2nd round of NIIHA junior league games and again the level of play and intensity from all the teams was great. Dispite the mixed results every player skated off with the heads held high.

Cyclones Peewee v East Coast Blaze
First game was at 9am. (man thats too early) The Cyclones fielded a few new faces in this game. Thomas McKinnon playing his first ever league game , Andrew McIlwrath and Ben Ewing also started their first games of the season. The early start to the morning seemed to find a lot of the Cyclones still in their beds but after just 40 seconds of the 1st period Captain Stephen Eccles found Paul Smyth to open the scoring and take his goal tally to 10 for the season. 37 seconds later #74 Thomas McKinnon scored his first goal of the day to give the Cyclones a deserved 2-0 lead after barely two minutes. Two more goals followed in the last 6 minutes of the 1st period when ‘Sniper’ Paul Smyth added his second of the day after good work on the boards from Nathan Dorrian.

The Cyclones defence was forcing the Blaze to a handful of chances and what they didnt stop, netminder Christopher Boyd did. Playing well at the back were the twin towers of Ben Ewing and Matthew Richey, who proved a force to be reckoned with. With 3.40 remaining in the 1st Stephen Eccles added the Cyclones fourth after a neat 1-2 with Andrew McIlwrath giving the Cyclones a 4-1 lead going into the period break.

The 2nd period went the same way as the first with numerous chances for the Cyclones but the Blaze netty held it tight dispite the puck ringing off the pipes on 3 occasions. The Blaze scored their second goal and looked to be coming back into the game after breaking up a Cyclones rush. With the score now at 4-2 the comeback only pushed the Cyclones harder and normal traffic was resumed with the Blaze goal being peppered – with 4.14 left in the 2nd Nathan Dorrian fed Thomas McKinnon who took the biscuit in his stride and banged it into the cage for his second of the game. The scoring was rounded off when a shot from Stephen Eccles was saved only to have #74 Thomas McKinnon latch onto the rebound to completed his hat-trick and a 6-2 Cyclones win, but definately not one of the polished performances.

Cyclones Squirts – East Coast Blaze
The 2minutes silence was observed at 11am to remember the fallen and injured soliders of part years.

Then the squirts took to the rink to try to earn their first win , but unfortunately they were unable to do so despite having at least 6 or 7 good scoring chances. The passing of the Squirts had the Blaze troubled time and again and made the Blaze work for a result. The Squirts have proven what they lack in size they make up for in team spirit and heart. From wee Daniel Grimshaw right up to Matthew Groves they give their all. For the 1st period Scott Ewen faced 16 shots, 14 of which were saves – some of the stops were top drawer and had applause ringing around the arena.

The period break provided the opportunity to introduce another new face. Tyler Foster took his place between the pipes and was immediately called into action. Again the Squirts pushed forward trying to find a breakthru that would lift the heads and spirits and Dylan Kennedy, Marcus Smyth and Ben Murdoch all rang the blaze pipes. Daniel Grimshaw was starting to put himself about on the rink and to see him squaring up to Blaze’s largest player was indeed a sight. Tyler faced 17 shots and managed 15 saves and again can be very pleased with his first display in a Cyclones Shirt.

The whole team played from start to finish with great heart and never stopped trying – Josh & Harry McIlwrath skated their legs off and late on Matthew McRoberts had a breakaway beating the Blaze goalie but the puck just trickled wide. 4-0 Blaze but again the Squirts showed some real promise and can take many positives from the game.

Cyclones Bantam v Bangor Chiefs
This was the most awaited game of the day. This was the 1st outing at Under 14 for the Chiefs this season so what we were going to face was unknown. The Chiefs took to the rink with their team and the size difference was apparant straight away.

The Cyclones won the opening face-off and went straight for goal. Chiefs goalie Jack Alexander must have wondered what have i done to deserve this, as shot after shot was pinged in at him. The Cyclones first goal was scored thru the impressive Shan McAteer who took a pass from Nathan Dorrian. Shan pulled a sick deke infrom of goal and lifted the puck with a backhand shot high into the net for a 1-0 Cyclones lead.

Most of the traffic now was headed towards the Chiefs net, on the break the Chiefs looked dangerous, but as usual Christopher Boyd stood tall and again he had help from James Devine , Matthew Richey & Ben Ewing at the back picking up the pieces. Cyclones 2nd goal arrived after Stephen Eccles sent a pass to the on fire Thomas McKinnon who banged home his 4th of the day.

The second period started the same way as the 1st with shot after shot finding its way towards the Chiefs net, Shan McAteer turned provider for the 3rd goal when his deflected shot found Nathan Dorrian who slotted the puck to give the Cyclones a 3 goal lead. The Chiefs then managed to pull a goal back but this only stung the Cyclones again into action when Martyn Bothwell took a pass from Shan McAteer and coolly slipped the puck into the net at the back door for a 4-1 lead.

The game started to get a bit tasty with some late checks with both coaches looking for calls to be made from the refs. ‘Sniper’ Paul Smyth added Cyclones 5th goal from a Thomas McKinnon rebound and the scoring was completed when Nathan Dorrian sent the biscuit thru the Chiefs goalies 5-hole for a very commanding 6-1 lead.