Highland Storm U11 LL Carquest were victorious against the Manvers Mustangs Black Feb. 28 on home ice.
The teams played a high-intensity game that left spectators on the edge of their seats.
In the first period, Jaxon Pelley sent a pass to Dean DaLanca who found the back of the net. Manvers came back quick to tie the game.
In the second period, Sebastian Dart lasered a pass to Wesley Bramham who pulled ahead and scored the second goal of the game. The Storm held the Mustangs off, ending the second period 2-1.
The third period is where this hockey game turned into a barn burner. The Mustangs snuck in a goal to tie the game once again. Dart answered with a faceoff win at centre ice, making a quick dash down the ice and getting the eventual game-winning goal, for a 3-2 lead.
That is when the Storm got into a rhythm and decided to take it home. The anticipation of every faceoff lead to a roaring crowd cheering on the home team.
You could see the determination building as the excitement grew. The Mustangs thought they might have a fighting chance and pulled their goalie with three minutes left in the game.
A last-ditch effort to keep the lead sent Tripp Meier to the box. A power play and pulled goalie gave the Mustangs a two-man advantage but they still had nothing on the home team with Liam Grant getting another one to make it 4-2 Storm.
Nixon Hopkins, Nolan Gallagher, Arizona Latanville, Chase Casella, Grant, Bramham, Hunter, DaLanca, Dart, Pelley, Francis Gilmour, Keaton DeCarlo, Griffin Hunt, Meier and Isaiah Young locked it down.
Manvers did not back down or give up. Gallagher took advantage of a great opportunity putting us up 5-2 in the last two minutes of the game. Back to six versus five for the last minute of the game, the Storm had no choice but to stay engaged and vigilant as the Mustangs made us work for our win until the very last second.
