The Southwest PeeWee Shamrock team
sponsored by the Glencoe Legion Faced their first real challenge in OMHA
playdowns. They eliminated the
Plattsville Rage, last year’s OMHA champions in a tight series 3 games to 2 and
move on to the OMHA Finals
To start the series the Rage travelled to Bothwell Tuesday February 24. With a hit post to start the game and one to end the game it was an exciting match that saw the Bullets play with heart and determination. With 6 and ½ minutes remaining in the first period Plattsville lit up the scoreboard first. Plattsville then scored to open the second. With almost 8 minutes remaining Ethan Carruthers scored with help from Charlie Pierce and Megan Hamilton. Final score was 2-1 for Plattsville.
On Thursday February 26 Southwest travelled down the 401 to Plattsville determined to shake off game one and battle hard. They had a great start to the game and going into the third period they were up 2-0. Goal scorers were Pierce and Dylan Gould with help from Carruthers, Nolan Morehouse and Tanner Doxtator. With the man advantage Plattsville managed to notch one past Bullet netminder Ethan Peixoto in the third. Southwest continued to work hard and outplayed the Rage in the third. They determinedly worked through several penalty kills including a 5 on 3. Bullet Elijah Barnes scored with 9 minutes remaining in the third assisted by Elizabeth VanBilsen. With .27 seconds left in the game Pierce scored his second. Final score was 4-1. The series was tied at one game each.
On Saturday February 28th the Bullets took to the road again for the third game of the series. The Rage were determined not to lose on home ice again and the final score was 6-2 for Plattsville. Going into 2nd Southwest was down by 3. With 2 minutes remaining in second they got on the scoreboard with a goal by Barnes to close the period 3-1. Third period action was a tough battle. The Bullets spent 8 minutes in the box and Plattsville scored two more goals all with the man advantage. Southwest ‘s Doxtator scored the Bullet’s second goal with 4 minutes remaining with some help from Pierce. The final score did not reflect the game as the Rage netminder shut down many of the Bullet’s scoring opportunities.
Thursday March 5th the team played host to Plattsville. The Bullets were going into this game as the underdogs down 2 games to 1. They had to win and did not disappoint the packed arena. It was a strong defensive game that can only be described as heartstopping. Plattsville got an early lead to close the first and capitalized on the man advantage. In the second Southwest scored with 3:42 remaining in the period. Goal scorer was Pierce with help from McAlpine and Morehouse. 39 seconds later Platsville scored to put them in the lead again 2-1. With a minute remaining in the second Barnes scored with help from Pierce and the period ending on a tie. Third period action saw end to end play with many opportunities for the Bullets but neither team scoring. It was tense with a tie game and 1 minute and ½ remaining a Southwest player took a penalty. Going into the overtime period and still a man short for the first 30 seconds the Bullets strong penalty killing skills kicked in and they shut Plattsville down. Five minutes remaining in the overtime period Southwest’s Pierce received a pass from Carruthers and found home in the Plattsville net to take the win and tie the series up at 2 games each.
Sunday March 8 Southwest travelled to Plattsville again for a do or die game for both teams. Electricity filled the air in the Plattsville arena on Sunday March 8th as the two teams faced off for game five of the series. The Bullets took to the ice with confidence clearly wanting to close out the series. With the man advantage Southwest’s Doxtator scored after receiving the pass from Shane DePelsmaeker and McAlpine to close the first period with the lead. With only 4 minutes remaining in the second McAlpine beat the Rage goalie to put them in the lead by 2. Pierce was credited with the assist. Seconds later Plattsville got their first of the game and the period ended with a 2-1 score. Third period action was a battle covering both ends of the ice. The Bullets widened their lead with a goal by Doxtator after receiving some help from McAlpine. After a couple of questionable calls Plattsville scored with 4 ½ minutes remaining in the period and then with a minute and 23 seconds remaining they managed to tie it up at 3. The game became intense as the threat of an overtime period was looming close. 20 seconds later Barnes went end to end and put the Bullets back in the lead. Even with the man advantage after Plattsville pulled their goalie the Bullets dominated the last minute of play and the game ended with a 4-3 final score. Peixoto made some huge saves that kept the bullets in the game.