OHSWEKEN – After a long and nail-biting series versus St. George, Six Nations Bantams fans could relax a little as they watched the Bantams tear around and defeat the Belmont Rangers 5-1 on Sunday, February 28.
It almost seemed a little too good to be true as the Rangers showed their early on nervousness by coming out on the ice before the zamboni door closed, making the score sheet worker ask them to leave the ice until the door was lowered.
The Rangers nerves left a catalyst for the rest of the game and led to the first goal in the first period by Devin Jamieson with an outside slap shot, unassisted. The rest of the period played out well, with several shots taken by the Bantams, and only a few by the Rangers.
The second period started with a burst of energy, as Darrion White was fed by Mason Hill and scored with a quick flick one minute into the period. However, nearing the end of the period, the Rangers goalie was swatted in the face mask accidentally by a Six Nations player, whose stick was pushed into it by one of the Rangers defence.
Even though he was wearing a face mask and throat cover, the goalie reacted by grabbing his mask and flopping onto his back in agony. This drew a penalty and booing from Bantams fans, but he wasn’t finished. Shortly thereafter, the goalie grabbed the back of his head and stopped the game again, likely because he had hit the back of his head on the ice after falling onto his back himself.
This put the referees on edge, and drew two more penalties by the end of the period.
The third period started with an unnecessary penalty and proved that the Rangers goalie had struck a soft spot with the refs. However, this didn’t do them any well as Captain Sandy Porter received a pass from White, from Jamieson and scored the third goal of the game. Not even 20 seconds later, John Miller scored unassisted.
Later in the period, a fight broke out, causing several players on both sides to be put into the box. But, bringing back the focus on the game with the last twenty seconds, Porter came in and scored unassisted with a perfectly timed break away, finishing the game 5-1.
The next game will be taking place at the Gaylord Powless Arena at 8 p.m., hoping to send the Bantams to Kawartha. Good Luck boys!
