A chippy affair with plenty of physicality cost the Listowel Cyclones in game 3 tonight, as the Waterloo Siskins got a big road win to go ahead in their GOJHL Midwest semi final series.
In the first, Listowel was very undisciplined and yielded 3 power plays to Waterloo, while only receiving one. The Siskins didn’t do much to trouble the home side, though, as the aggressive penalty kill was effective in keeping chances out wide. The first ended scoreless, and the end of the period was marred by a scary incident when Cyclones forward Holdyn Lansink went crashing backwards into the end boards and was knocked unconscious. Lansink woke up and was moving all extremities as medical staff attended to him, and when local paramedics arrived to stretcher him off to the hospital, he was alert and talking. Here’s hoping Lansink is okay.
The middle frame became a war of attrition, as both teams hammered away at each other, with everything from elbows, fists, and quite often sticks. For a period of play, the officials slightly lost control, as both teams were getting away with egregious penalties that fans are used to seeing called. Once everything calmed down, Waterloo victimized the Cycs as captain Blake Nichol got caught looking for a hit in the neutral zone, and a 2-on-1 resulted in Sam Spaedt smashing in a rebound to put the visitors up 1-0. Minutes later, Jakob Lee got himself involved on a Cyclones power play, tying the score with a chip effort in front of the crease.
With the potential for overtime looming as a mostly deadlocked third ticked away, a faceoff play in Listowel’s end late in the third saw defender Max Coyle break his stick. Forward Cullen Mercer gave him his and furiously rushed to the bench to retrieve a new one. The mismatch down low created a wrap around opportunity that Cycs goalie Max Wright stopped, but a rebound fell to Winston Cestnick who shelfed it far side, and the Siskins managed to hold off the Cyclones last ditch efforts to tie the game. Waterloo goalie Brett Miller was excellent, stopping a number of big chances, particularly late in the third just before his team scored the winner. Listowel falls down in the series 2-1, and face a tough game tomorrow night in Waterloo to try and tie it up. 7:30 puck drop on AM920 with myself and Steve Sabourin.
