Shelburne Wolves U11 Rep team defeats Wasaga Stars over the weekend

Written By Brian Lockhart

It was Hockey Day in Shelburne on Saturday, Nov. 15, as the Shelburne Minor Hockey Association hosted a special day of games on the ice at the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex.

A total of 12 games were played, starting with a U8 game at 8 a.m.

The Shelburne Wolves U11 Rep team put on a good show and their best effort of the season when they hosted the Wasaga Beach Stars.

Looking for their first win of the season, the Wolves didn't disappoint their hometown fans.

The game was tied 2-2 midway through the second period.

It was a 3-2 game when the Wolves took a shot and scored with less than a second remaining on the clock.

It was again tied when Wasaga scored in the second period, but the Wolves managed to take a lead with another goal before the buzzer sounded to end the period.

The Wolves were ahead 5-3 with a goal early in the third period, but Wasaga answered with another goal to again tie the game.

The Wolves put out a huge effort late in the third period, scoring three goals, then capped the game with a final empty netter when the Stars pulled their goalie to put an extra attacker on the ice.

It was a 9-5 final to give the Wolves their first win of the season.

“We had a lot of scoring and put a lot of pressure on the other team,” summed up Wolves left wing Katie Sheppard of the way her team played. “We were doing a lot of forechecking.”

Wolves U11 Rep coach Justin Dzikowski said he has seen a lot of improvement in the team since the start of the season.

“Everyone was doing their job on the ice,” Dzikowski said after the game. “They've come a long way. We didn't have any returning players from last year, so they're all new to the team. We started with the basics and they started to get it and started to play their positions.”

He added, “We're starting to forecheck a  little more. We've been having trouble getting shots on net so we practiced that this week. Our goal was to get more shots on net and it worked out. At the start of the year they were running around a little wild, but now they have some direction and they are learning their positions. It goes from there. Once everyone is doing their job, it works out.”

The Shelburne Wolves U11 Rep team will be back on home ice on Saturday, Nov. 22, when they will host the Georgian Shores Lighting at the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex.

Game time is 12:30 p.m.