November 15, 2008
It was a very intense game from the beginning. The Bears came out strong with their size and speed and put the Cougars on their heels for half of the first period. The defensive units of Adriel, Christian, Jack, Nicholas and Zack made solid plays. Kevin made a few very nice saves in the net. The Bears were still able to put the puck behind Kevin and took a 1-0 lead, but it could have been worse. After half a period, the Cougars gradually got used to the tempo and started to find some offensive rhythm. Zack took the puck in from the blue line and almost put it in the net with a wrap-around. The defense made some nice plays on the blue line to keep the puck in the zone. After some close calls, the Cougars finally put themselves on the board - Aseem skated in along the right side and centered a perfect pass from the corner to Rahul, who put the in the net from just outside the crease. The first period ended with 1-1 tie.
The Bears scored quickly after the start of the 2nd period to take a 2-1 lead, but Bella's shot from a tough angle somehow found its way in the net and tied the score at 2-2. Soon after, Justin's perfect pass from the defensive zone hit Nicholas in full stride, whose breakaway goal put the Cougars in the leads for the first time. But the lead didn't last long because the Bears had their own odd man rush during a Cougars power play. Kevin did an outstanding job, made the initial save and saved the round, but couldn't freeze the puck before a Bear punched the loose puck in to tie the score at 3-3. Just before the end of the 2nd period, Aseem skated in from the blue line and beat the goalie with a backhander to put the Cougars back on top again and ended the 2nd period with a 4-3 Cougars lead.
After the score seesawed for 2 period and nobody could take a lead of more than one goal, the Cougars finally took control and put the game away with 3 unanswered goals. Nicholas took the puck in and fired a shot from the right face-off circle, and Joshua put the rebound into the net. Aseem battled hard with the Bears defenders and Edmund found the loose puck in the slot, and beat the goalie with a quick wrist shot. Aseem then capped off the scoring after he took a perfect pass from Rahul, found himself all alone in front of the net, and calmly put the puck pass the goalie.
Overall, it was an outstanding game played by the Cougars. The defensive units played a very solid game against the big, powerful forwards of the Bears. The Bears defense played the Cougars very tight and didn't leave them much room on the ice, but the Cougars forwards battled hard against some of the huge defenders and created the space and scoring chances. They also showed great willpower and endurance and out skated the team with 3 full lines in the entire 3rd period. Lastly, WOW! What a great display of fancy passing - they generated more than half of the goals and also quite a few great chances. Keep it up, young Cougars!