BARRY’S BAY – It’s 4 p.m. on January 7 at the Paul J. Yakabuski Community Centre and the “A” Championship game between the hometown Barry’s Bay Peewee Bears and the Petawawa River Men is about to start.
The Bears got here with 5-0 and 3-2 wins, while the River Men won their games 5-1 and 3-2.
The game started out slow, as both teams were playing it pretty tight. Then at 4:14, the line of Timothy Shalla, David Gonzalez and Noah Yutronkie had the best scoring chance of the period, only to be denied.
Less than a minute later, Bear’s goalie Ryan Kargus made a big glove save on a breakaway to keep the game scoreless. At 5:59, the Bears opened the scoring when defenseman Emma Foy snuck in from the point, took a pass from Jordan Summers and fired a hard wrist shot that went in low on the stick side.
Ryleigh Holly also had an assist. They upped the lead to two at 7:46, when Emma Foy, with her second straight goal, fired a point shot that hit the goalies blocker and dropped in behind him. Maddy Gienow and Carley Mullin drew assists on the goal. 2-0 after one period.
At 5:53, Jesse Foy was stopped on a hard wrist shot from the slot. Shortly after that, Jonathan Klawitter fired a shot from the point that was deflected just wide of the net by Ryleigh Holly. With three minutes remaining in the period, Kargus made a stop off a Daniel Epp shot and the puck sat on the goal line until he managed to locate it. Then with one second left on the clock, the River Men got on the board when Jacob Ryn fired a high wrist shot, stick side.
The Bears took a slashing penalty at 4:04 of the third and Petawawa tied the game when Cohen Savoie put a hard wrist shot in the corner, stick side. That seemed to fire up the River Men who controlled the next few minutes but couldn’t put one by Kargus. However, a penalty at 7:25 put the Bears on the power play and, at 9:06, David Gonzalez banged in the rebound of a Jesse Foy shot, and the Bears lead 3-2. Jordan Summers also picked up an assist. The River Men pulled their goalie but couldn’t get the equalizer and the Bears are the Champs.
For more photos and game coverage, pick up a copy of the January 11 paper.