Backing Into the Playoffs

The regular season of Intramural Hockey at the University of Windsor came to an end last night for WWGRD as they came up against the league-leading Big Rigs. WWGRD knew they would need a solid start if they wanted to end the season on a high and get the final two points of the year, and they accomplished they got the start they were looking for. WWGRD's number 1 line, consisting of Alex Djordjevski and Brandon Pancerny flanking center Sean Micelli, got the team off to a flying start, hemming the Big Rigs in their own zone before Pancerny potted the go-ahead goal on the first shift of the game. Unfortunately, the first placed Big Rigs bounced back and responded with a goal of their own to tie the game up at ones. Later on in the first, WWGRD's big line struck again as Alex "All-Swedish" Djordjevski buried a rebound to give WWGRD the lead once again. The Big Rigs, out numbed 16-7 in skaters by WWGRD showed resilience once again and tied the game up once more late in the first half. Stefan Branov decided to take matters into his own hands, scoring the go-ahead goal to give WWGRD the lead 3-2 as the first half came to an end.

Stefan Branov, who scored the go-ahead goal in the first
was WWGRD's player of the game last night.

One of the strongest second half teams in the league, WWGRD came out flying after the brief intermission, hemming the Big Rigs in with constant pressure in their zone. But as it seems it has been going for the last few months, the Big Rigs were able to tie the game and take the lead on odd-man rushes, seizing a 4-3 advantage over WWGRD. Using their fresh legs and determination to continue to control the game, WWGRD tied the game up on a beautiful goal by Riley Pekar, who finally decided to do something for this team. However, also continuing an unfortunate trend to the second half of the season, the effort was not enough for WWGRD as the Big Rigs came down the other way and scored the go-ahead goal with only minutes left in the game. The boys in blue had their usual last minute chances, with the puck and bodies flying all over the Big Rigs' zone, but they once again couldn't get that last bounce they were looking for.

With the season coming to an end, WWGRD now awaits to hear when they play their first playoff game and who they will be meeting in the first round. Although entering on a bit of a skid, Captain Marc Berthiaume seemed optimistic when speaking with the media today, "Yeah, we haven't gotten the results we've been looking for lately, it's been a while since we've walked out of a game with both points, but that’s not necessarily what's most important right now. This group of guys is playing hockey the right way. We're fighting hard, not giving up on any pucks, getting the pressure; it's just not resulting in enough goals for us right now. We haven't been out of any games during this funk we're in, and don't forget we've played some really good teams here. We have a lot of guys on this squad that seem like they're gunna be big time play-off performers, guys that really throw it all on the line when it matters, and that's what is gunna win games in the next few weeks."