A poorly Bernie was the only absentee from the game. She wanted to play, but Aunty Anna gave Dr Bernie some good advice for a change. Hope you get better soon! As for the game - well, warm-up was over in a flash. Irritating the captain so much so, that her mind went blank and couldn't do the round-the-net talk in her usual fashion! She apologises for her poor memory. To make up for it, she went and scored a goal in the first shift! A thing she doesn't do too often...so she hopes she is forgiven.
Telford showed that they hadn't come just to watch us play and levelled the score a couple of shifts later. A few minutes of Vipers finding their feet (probably due to no proper warm-up) and then Vipers turned it up a few notches and started to shoot the puck. Notable first goals for Clare Jones, showing some quick reaction skills around the net, and for Paige Dance who stripped Telford of the puck on the blue line, and outpaced the defender and finished her efforts with a great shot on net. We had 16 shots on target in the first period, which is a vast improvement for our team.
The end of the first period saw Kerry fall amazingly gracefully on the blue line - bit slippy out there isn't it?! The second period didn't get off to the best start as Vipers took a penalty and had to practice their penalty killing. There were some nice periods of play at times, but a few wayward shots in the second period, meant that the shots on net weren't the greatest. However, Laura Smith managed to receive a puck on the breakout and beat the defender and then the netminder with a nice backhand shot; the only goal for Vipers of the period. Anna tried to toe-drag the puck (unintentionally at first) with her skate and then fell on her backside. We are here to provide entertainment!
Coach JS mixed up some of the lines in the third period - having a few players switch from defense to forward and vice-versa. Vipers managed to cope with the change of personnel but didn't fathom too many clear shots on net despite containing control of the puck. The third period was actually 2-1 in favour of the visitors, but the game was really over at the end of the first. A final score of 8-3 was a good result for the girls, who needed a nice win. Hopefully, this will lift their confidence and spirits and will lead to a good run-in at the end of the season.
In the post-match press conference, Coach JS had these words to say:
I was please how the girls took control of the game in the first period. I told them to shoot the puck more in the pre-game chat, and they certainly did that. Perhaps they took their foot off the gas a bit in the second, and I tried to spice things up a bit in the third and make the girls do a bit more thinking. Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the result. I have decided to give up swearing for lent. Its a challenge. However, I like challenges. Everytime I swear I will donate money to charity. (It could be an expensive month)!