With 0.4 seconds left on the clock, McRae became the OT hero
The Gee-Gees Men’s hockey team faced off against the Laurier Golden Hawks at the Minto Recreation Complex on Oct. 20. It was an intense and exciting matchup that ended in a close win for the Gee-Gees.
The first period started off shaky yet strong in a lot of aspects. The offence was working hard, putting up a lot of time on attack in the opposing zone. There was plenty of good defence being played as well, with lots of big hits and stick checking to make sure Laurier players could not get any passes to their teammates.
Both teams ran into penalty trouble, with Laurier being in the box for four minutes in the period. Their penalty kill was very strong and hard to crack for our power play unit. Goalie Frankie Lapenna had to leave the game ten minutes in due to his glove breaking; goaltender Zach Dietz got scored on the first shot he took before Lapenna came back.
The second period started with a 4-on-3 situation where the Gee-Gees had the advantage. Both teams were able to clear the penalties and get back to even strength. That is when the comeback started and forward Justin McRae scored a beautiful goal off the rebound, assisted by forward Evan Boucher and defender Peter Stratis. The puck was in the Gee-Gees zone more as there were lots of hits and blocks but it allowed the Hawks to score. More penalties took place, with both teams able to get back to even strength, but the third period is where this game became electrifying.
The third period started with the Hawks scoring off a bad bounce on Lapenna but that didn’t deter the offence one bit. The captain of the team, Anthony Poulin, said enough’s enough and scored off the rebound, which was assisted by Stratis & forward Marc-Antoine Seguin. Forward Bradley Chenier capitalized on a Laurier turnover with a great goal to tie the game up, which was assisted by forwards Charles-Antoine Roy & Bradley Chenier.
The aggression was turned up to the max on both sides — lots of big hits, blocks and penalties were committed in the period. The Gees weren’t able to capitalize on a 5-on-3 scenario but Laurier was able to score on a powerplay. In the last minute, the goalie was pulled and forward Luka Verreault took a big snap shot in front of the net, set up by defender Grayson Ladd & Seguin. The game was tied and went into overtime.
Overtime was a beast of its own. The team was cycling a lot more, and throwing shots on net. Our defence gave it their all with solid coverage in front of the net, and the offence was applying pressure in the Hawks’ zone. One of the Hawks’ shots bounced off Frankie’s net, leading to an intense near-miss. With 0.4 seconds left on the clock, McRae became the OT hero as he wired a slapshot from the point to score and win the game, assisted by defender Liam Markhauser & forward Nick Bowman.
