 NEWS PHOTO EMMA BENNETTMedicine Hat Hockey Hounds forward Slater Dykema, left, battles Red Deer Rebels White defenceman Landon MacKenzie during Sunday's bantam AAA playoff game at the Moose Recreation Centre. |
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Jordan Taupert only stands 4-foot-11, but he came through big, when the Medicine Hat Hockey Hounds bantam AAA team needed him the most.
On Sunday, the Hounds faced the Red Deer Rebels White in a deciding Game 3 of a first round Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League playoff series at the Moose Recreation Centre.
The team's went into overtime locked in a 1-1 draw. Just over three minutes into the extra session, Taupert drove hard down the right wing, received a pass from linemate Jaeger White and buried the series winner into an open cage.
"I was excited for the team," said Taupert. "I wanted to get that goal so bad, so we could go on to the second round.
"It just popped up, and I fired it into the net. I did it for the team."
The Hounds took Game 3 by a 2-1 score and the best-of-three series 2-1. They advance to play the Airdrie Xtreme in a best-of-three second round series, where Game 1 is tentatively slated for Friday in Medicine Hat.
On Saturday in Red Deer, the Rebels stayed alive in the series pulling out a 4-2 win in Game 2. Mack Differenz, Luke Coleman, Jesse Freeborn and Brenden Baker netted singles for Red Deer, while Brody Dirk made 32 saves to earn the win in goal.
Mitch Hallas and Slater Dykema scored singles for the Hounds. Xavier Burghardt made 23 saves suffering the loss in goal.
In the third and deciding game of the series on Sunday at the Moose, both teams started the contest playing defensively tough. Just past the midway point of the second, Hallas scored to put the hosts up 1-0.
The Hounds looked like they had the game locked down defensively in the third. With 5:47 to play in the frame, Rebels forward Chase Olsen tipped in a point shot from Freeborn to tie things up at 1-1. Olsen's goal came off Red Deer's fourth shot on goal in the period.
That set the stage for the overtime frame, where Taupert came through for the hosts.
Burghardt made 24 saves in the Medicine Hat net. Dirk turned away 39 shots for the Rebels.
See SERIES, Page A8
"I thought we played real well all game," said Hounds head coach Jason Bartram. "Our goaltender held us in there.
"Those kids stayed confident on the bench for 60 minutes. There was something about the atmosphere and everything on the bench that we knew we were going to score that goal."
The Hounds bench boss was also happy to see Taupert come through with the series winner.
"He has worked so hard through the series and hasn't had a lot of reward," said Bartram. "To see him get it was so fitting."
The Rebels were hoping to pull off an upset in the series. The Hounds finished with a 16-10-7 to sit first in the Ram South Division, while the Rebels were 11 points back in fourth place at 11-17-5.
Red Deer head coach Mick Kartusch said his players played as well as they could.
"It has been an enjoyable series overall," said Kartusch. "You like to be on the other side of the equation for sure.
"At the end of the day, the kids can leave with their head up knowing they gave everything they had. We did what we had to do. We gave ourselves a chance."
