The Kitchener Jr Rangers MD Red team put in a gutsy effort to earn a hard win over the Waterloo Wolves Black team Sunday afternoon 4 to 1.
Once again, the Rangers had bodies out of the line up but that was nothing new for the team. With 18 games played this season only 4 times the team has had its full roster available, yet the team has yet to lose a game. This buy in from all players shows the dedication, determination and agreement to team first principals from all 17 Red players.
With Stephen Peppas and Jake Fisher out, the Rangers came out on fire with a dominate start from Logan Duke who opened the scoring from Quinten Earle and Noah Park. Caleb Cumming burst into the Wolves zone from Denver Heiman and Connor Coughlin and displayed tremendous patience to beat the Wolves goalie late in the second period. On the powerplay, Kodi Blackshaw took a Toby Pryce pass, then threaded the needle to an open Earle back door for a beautiful goal. Cumming put the nail in the coffin late in the game from Coughlin and Chad Morris.
Aiden Radatus was exceptional for the Rangers making key saves when the team got into penalty trouble. Radatus was only beat when the Rangers were down two men. Radatus made key saves when the team was hanging onto a lone goal lead and even more as the team needed to go ahead again helping the Rangers sail into a big win.
Matt Gallant made a huge block shot in the final minute of the game and Josh McDonald was a true general on the ice with patience and skill on display. The defenders had help with guys like Jacob Reid-Brant and Evan Peori, who was amazing in the defensive zone.
It was a hard weekend for the team playing with a short bench, but the players showed a lot of heart and character and as they have done all season showed they can rise to the occasion no matter what adversity they face.
Go Rangers!