The U15 Highland Storm ended their week with a Friday night tilt vs the Sturgeon Lake Thunder. From the second the puck dropped, the Storm were off to a fast start. With some solid backchecking from Austin Latanville and Jace Mills, the puck was quickly sent down the ice to the Thunder zone. The U15 Storm kept the pressure rolling and Deagan Davidson quickly buried the puck in the net just three minutes into the game, assisted by Josh Scheffee and Evan Jones. The Storm took the 1-0 lead into the second period.
The second period was laid out the same as the first, as the Storm kept the pressure rolling and kept the Thunder at bay. The Storm used their speed and strength to win battles along the boards, and even dished out some clean body checks. By the midpoint of the second, the Storm found themselves in a bit of penalty trouble. While on the penelty kill, Parker Simms made a nice heads-up play, gaining control of the puck and making a nice stretch pass to Owen Sisson. Owen skated the puck across the red line and made a nice pass to Mills who was able to slide the puck under the goalie for a short-handed goal, giving the Storm a 2-0 lead. As the second came to an end, the locals were still leading 2-0 into the third.
The Storm took to the freshly-flooded ice in the third and were able to keep the same pace. The team went on the powerplay, when Parker dangled through a few players and sniped one over the goalie’s glove, giving the Storm a convincing 3-0 lead with eight minutes to go in the game.
As play continued, the Thunder applyed some pressure, trying to gain access to the Storm zone. Latanville delivered a thundering hit along the boards and ended up drawing a penalty, sending the Storm back to the powerplay. With the faceoff deep in the Thunder zone, Mills delivered the puck to Latanville, who set up Jones for a one-timer slapshot goal from the point. The Storm rode the 4-0 lead till the final buzzer, giving Chase Winder the shutout and the Storm its 16th win of the season.
