In a hot, sweltering arena, two surprising blow out games, THE STREAK was finally broken, a couple of other streaks start to become noticeable and some unexpected scorers step up to the plate in the late game…In the early game, both teams had surprisingly good turnouts though both were missing their go_to scoring machines. Team Blair scored a couple of goals early and hopes were high that this would be the night they could break Justin’s streak! Team Jacquie quickly scored a couple to tie things up and then another to exit the 1st period with a 3-2 lead. In the 2nd the narrative was reversed with Team Jacquie scoring a couple to seemingly pull away before Team Blair scored 3 to pull back into a 5-5 tie at the end of 2. Team Blair was getting the scoring chances but Justin was determined not to let them get any easy goals… and in the 3rd period they didn’t get any easy goals, or in fact, any goals at all. Team Jacquie kept rolling along scoring 5 and with Justin shutting down the Team Blair scorers completely, the game ended in a Team Jacquie blow out, 10-5. Justin’s streak goes to 23 and on a more disturbing note, G2’s losing streak creeps up to 7!

In the 2nd game, Team Dirka was flirting with a default with only 6 runners but was able to start the game and pick up a couple of ringers from the early game. The 1st period started slowly with teams exchanging goals and ending the period tied at 3. In the 2nd, Team Dirka was able to push the ball down floor a number of times, scoring twice but unable to maintain any consistent offensive pressure. At the other end, Team Lia displayed effective ball control and quick movement, scoring 4 goals to pull out to a 2 goal lead late in the 2nd. Then, a loose ball pickup in the defensive zone, a couple of passes up the floor , a pass to KevinL standing on the crease, the shot and GOAAAALLLLLLLLL! (Kevin’s traditional bi or is it tri-annual goal).  After the obligatory celebrations time ran out on the 2nd with Team Lia leading 8-5. 5 goals against Justin in 1 period – unheard of! Frustration was becoming evident and there were rumblings that THE STREAK might be in jeopardy. In the 3rd, KevinL decided to give notice to rest of LMHLL’s scoring machines that there was a new gunslinger in town, scoring again…GOAAAALLLLLLLLL! (No over the top celebration this time – now the goals are expected and nothing out of the ordinary!). Team Lia added 3 more goals, crushing any hopes of a Team Dirka comeback before team owner DirkaP decided to make a statement – scoring late on a nice bouncing, triple bank shot off the goalies back from the edge of the crease to end the scoring – final score Team Lia 12 – Team Dirka 6…. and Justin’s unbeaten streak ends at 23 games over 2 years  – 20 wins, 3 ties! Pretty impressive but time to start another streak next week. On a similar note, with his victory last night in the late game, GordC is now up to 7 wins in a row – only 16 more to go!

Next is Week #15, the penultimate week of the Summer2017 regular season – Wednesday August 9, 2017 Kinsmen Arena

Team Blair  vs.  Team Dirka     8:00pm – 9:00pm

Team Jacquie  vs.  Team Lia     9:00pm – 10:00pm

Team standings are unlikely to change over the next 2 weeks so now is the time to hone the plays for the upcoming Playoffs! (or pad the stats for next season’s contract re-negotiations!)

See you all next week

G2