In game 3 the Tigers faced the Monroe Winterhawks from Michigan. While Monroe seemed to have the advantage in physical size our Tigers executed their game plan with proficiency and brought some new found intensity.

The 1st period ended in a 1-1 tie with Ray Cadeau making a special delivery to the Monroe goaltender on a breakaway. Outstanding goaltending from Connor Clark kept the game close but unfortunately he fell victim to a bad bounce as a the puck rolled off his back on a shot from behind the net.

Early in the 2nd Period Justin Iskra scored the 1st of 2 goals for him with a high bullet over the goaltender right off the face-off. Quick release and accuracy were the key to that one. His 2nd goal was while the Tigers were on the power-play as he banged in a rebound on a slapshot by Mark Shiozaki from the point. That made it 3-1 for the Tigers but before the end of the period Monroe answered with a goal of their own with 4:05 remaining. Not to be outdone the Tigers, Ryan Johnson responded with a goal of his own, once again banging in a rebound on a “knuckleball” shot from Shiozaki at the point. Well that ain’t it folks…with 21 seconds left the Winterhawks scored themselves to make it 4-3 Tigers at the end of 2 periods.

In the 3rd Period if we were to follow the last sequence of events it would have been the Tigers turn to score but Monroe would have nothing of that as the tied the game with 10:38 remaining in the final period. Play continued with chances for both sides and it was apparent that the boys were wanting to get physical. With time running down David Johnson made a pin point pass to a streaking Ryan Johnston who promptly loaded his “Howitzer”, pulled the trigger and raised his arms to celebrate the winning goal. With that goal the Tigers remained undefeated 2-1-0.

Game 4’s summary is going to be brief as I had to attend to an injury however brief is probably good. After an exciting win over the Winterhawks in game 3, our Tigers seemed to still be relishing in that victory and must have left something back at the Quality Inn. After jumping to a 1-0 lead on a nice goal by the hard-working Justin Iskra, against the 14AA Hamilton Reps, the Tigers got stomped on. Hamilton scored 6 unanswered goals, with the final score being 6-2. Rather disappointing after such a strong effort against Monroe but fortunately a loss by Stoney Creek in their final game allowed us to advance to Friday’s semi-finals.

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