Just two weekends after dropping a three-goal lead against the peewee Mustangs and having to settle with a 5-5 tie, Duncan’s let it happen again in bantam hockey Sunday at the Canada Games Centre.
After dominating play in the first period, Duncan’s let Castlerock score twice in the second and once in the third to push the score to 4-4. However, with just 37 seconds left in regulation time, Duncan’s Lowell Tait made a pass through the goal crease to Blake Roy alone in front, who one-timed the puck into the open net for a 5-4 win over Castlerock.
“I guess we thought we had the game all wrapped up, and our defence kind of let go of the game,” said Duncan’s goalie, Matthew Pollard. “I let a few weak goals in, but then our defence tightened up in the third period.”
Castlerock’s second period goals came just 30 seconds apart, five minutes in. Spencer Jamison gave a cross ice pass out of the Castlerock zone to a breaking Willy Oulton, who let a slapper go from five metres out, catching the inside of the bar in the top right corner for his second goal of the game. Half a minute later Kurt Spenner shoveled in a short range shot from a cluster of players in front of the net.
“We just got a little sloppy in front of our net and we probably weren’t skating quite as hard,” said Duncan’s coach John Pereira of the second and third periods. “I was just trying to get the kids to keep moving their feet a bit more. They were just gliding and I think the intensity came down a little bit….
“We generally do start fairly strong, but then we peter out a little bit,” he added.
Both Brandon Langenham and Roy of Duncan’s scored two goals in the game.
“They’re two of our strongest players,” said Pereira.
Roy, who is actually of midget age, is playing in bantam because of this year’s absence of a midget league.
“In the first period we were running around, really chasing the puck, not marking (our) opposition,” said Castlerock manager Ravi Bhullar. “We left some of (Duncan’s players) open and I think that’s what turned into a few goals.
“The second period they were playing more like a team, going for man-to-man, passing a lot better.”
Angela Burke also scored for Castlerock.