Mar 07, 2011 | Jarid Peterson | 1167 views
The Girls Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Warmer weather bringing record number of Lady Ranger Fans out of hibernation as Playoff atmosphere builds.
With spring just around the corner the 'Belle's in Blue' from Kitchener are beginning to warm up. After closing the regular season as Division Leaders at the end of January the girls earned a bye for the first round of the playoffs, that left them without division competition for almost a month. Management helped fill that down time with countless practices, numerous exhibition games, and oh yeah a Silver Stick Championship.
However Playoffs add a different sort of passion to the game, on any day, anything can happen.
Monday February 28th, saw the first game for the Kitchener Lady Rangers against the Visiting Hornets from Oakville. Oakville had just finished a three game series with the Stratford Ace's and after losing the first game had come back to take the remaining two. Kitchener's record against the Hornets in the regular season was tight at 1-0-2, which was a prelude of things to come.
The first game at Grand River Arena here in Kitchener saw a tough battle between two very prepared teams, who traded shots back and forth before Oakville jumped to an early 2-0 lead. However just nine seconds after the second goal Ashley jumped on the faceoff from center and drove hard to the net alone, drawing the Ladies within one. The arena was electric with the sounds of Cow Bells and Cheering, when with just over three minutes left to play Ayrial and Nicole fought hard for the puck pushing it up ice into the clear just where Lane likes it, a few fancy moves later the game was tied. That was how the game ended, but the fans wanted more and they would have to wait five days.
Game two saw the Rangers travel to Glen Abbey Arena in Oakville, a sprawling facility complete with a pool, two rinks, a library, gymnastics club, squash courts and a community center. Surprising was the number of Kitchener fans that made the journey to the green rink, including fans from south of the border in Michigan. With the noise level in the arena it was hard to tell who had home rink advantage, but Oakville silenced some of the Kitchener crowd with an early goal ten minutes into the first. But soon after the tides turned. Lane scored unassisted seven minutes later. With the score tied the game became intense as both teams worked the puck hard back and forth until with all three forwards in front of the net scrambling Issy dug deep and pushed the puck to the back of the net, helpers to Alex and Ash. Nobody was prepared for what they saw next, Natalie and Amanda worked the frozen disk forward and it bounced oddly off an Oakville stick, there stood Brooke alone. Without thinking she drove forward from the blueline to the net firing a rocket to the top shelf glove side on a stunned Hornet goalkeeper, in what can only be described as a highlight reel goal. You could almost hear the balls drop right out of the Hometown Cow Bells. Halfway through the third Alex netted a puck thrown at the net and the Rangers win game two 4-1.
This meant in game three the Lady Rangers needed only a win or a tie to advance to the next round, not an easy task by any means. Sunday March 6th, saw a jam packed Patrick J. Dougherty arena at the Activa Sportsplex. Each city was fully represented in the stands which had flowed over into standing room only. But this time it was the Rangers who jumped into the lead first, with a large rebound from Ashley's shot, Alex found herself with an open net and took advantage. The scored remained 1-0 until six minutes into the third when Hannah and Lane combined to get the puck to Ashley putting the Rangers up 2-0. However the Hornets would not stop buzzing, aided by outstanding goaltending they continued to push. Oakville's Leah managed to weave through the Ranger team to net a remarkable goal, bringing them within one. The Kitchener team reacted by going into shut down mode keeping the puck from landing on Hornet sticks, moving it forward and keeping it away from Eden. The Ranger defense allowed only three shots to the net all game and aided with some fantastic forward backchecking from Nicole were able to hold of the Oakville surge as the seconds ticked of the clock. That is when the roof blew off the Complex as a capacity crowd leapt to their feet, both cities all as one to applaud both teams in what was an outstanding series.
Thanks to the Oakville Hornets players, Coaches, Staff, and Fans for a healthy dose of competitive Rep Hockey Playoffs.
The Kitchener Lady Rangers learned shortly after the game that the Cambridge Roadrunners had also advanced past the Guelph Thunder in a very close fought series. Kitchener will now begin preparations for a final show down with the number 2 ranked Roadrunners who were the only team to defeat the Rangers in the regular season. Let's hope the girls and their rabid fans can continue the momentum, and the noise in will surely be a series to remember.
Congratulations to the Kitchener Lady Rangers players, coaches, staff and their rag tag band of supporters. The Rangers also would like to wish Avery a speedy recovery after missing the last game and a half with what, in playoff terms, has been identified as an 'upper body injury.'