They never saw us coming.
Right up until the final buzzer, Reading believed this was their tournament. They
had led the league throughout the season and didn't think anything would stop them.
Nashoba knew better. Nashoba knew that with hard work, smart hockey and 100%
effort, hustle and heart, no one could beat their TEAM. Nashoba knew something
else -- Reading had never really played against Nashoba. We had played them three
times, but never with our whole team in attendance. They never saw us coming.
Nashoba controlled the game for the first period. Reading rarely got the puck into
our zone. We kept up the pressure and kept them on their heels. They got their
feet back under them and pressed back in the second. We had a little bit of panicky
hockey and they got a goal. What impresses me so much about our girls is that I
didn't hear a single moment of worry or doubt from anyone. This game wasn't over
and we weren't giving up. They never saw us coming.
We regrouped between periods, took a deep breath and got our focus back for the
third. Leah Carfagno evened it up in the first half of the third period and then the
teams battled for the championship. Kerry Pouliot was outstanding between the
posts and refused every attempt by Reading. Not another puck was going in! With
just under five minutes left, one girl asked about overtime. I assured her it wouldn't
be necessary -- we were going to win in regulation. Renee Twogood proved me right
with 2 1/2 minutes left in the game. Reading then called a timeout to discuss their
strategy and we did a quick overview of how to protect a lead.
We then played another twenty minutes or so of hockey although the clock indicates
it was only a couple of minutes! It was excrutiating. Reading unleashed an
offensive onslaught and we simply turned them away. They pulled their goalie and
kept the pressure on us in our zone, but somehow we always got a stick on the puck
and kept moving the puck back toward their end, even if only a few feet at a time. I
watched our girls play their best hockey of the season during that third period, but
somehow they dug deeper and found even more for those last few minutes. It was
inspiring. I only allowed myself to relax when we had the puck on their blue line
with three seconds left. They were awesome!
Reading never saw us coming. I think they see us now.
Thank you, girls.
Amy Lowe
This was written by my coach, Amy Lowe.
We all cried at the thournament.
I love Amy like a mother, shes tought me so many things, ive grown so much from her.
:] Love you amy!
 La Petite Estelle · Fri Mar 12, 2010 @ 12:42am · 0 Comments |
