The Royals kicked off their AA playoff campaign with a home game vs. Minto on Saturday Feb 4th.
With both teams hungry to secure the win in the series opener, it didn't take long for the fans to see the 1st goal, with Minto taking an early lead at 18:24 of the 1st. Tavistock's Collin Hartwick answered the call, tying things up at 13:13, but Minto was able to put 2 more in the net before the period was over. In a break from hockey, Tavistock's Team Unity Intermediate group entertained the crowd following the flood
Leading 3-1 after the 1st, Minto's offence continued in the 2nd, adding 2 more goals to their lead and taking a 5-1 lead heading into the 3rd period. Tavistock showed signs of life with 4:54 remaining in the 3rd, with Deven Kropf scoring with the help of Trevor Sauder and Geoff Killing. A short while later, Tavi looked to have scored a goal to make it 5-3 but the goal was called off with the ref believing the net was off. Losing 5-2 in the opener, Tavi looked to even the series on the road in Palmerston Sunday night. Full highlights of game 1 (including the disallowed goal) found here
519 Sports Highlights of Game 1
Sunday the Royals traveled to Palmerston with #30 Jensen van Boekel getting the start in net after making a lake appearance in Saturdays' series opener.
On smaller ice, Sunday's game had plenty of physicality with a total of 88 penalty minutes shared fairly evenly between the 2 teams. With 1st line winger Callan Christner still serving game 2 of his suspension and Royals points leader Sean Kienapple out with the flu, the Royals showed they have the depth to compete, with each line competing hard each shift. Despite a strong effort in the first period, Minto held a 2-0 lead heading into the 2nd period. From there on in, it was all Royals, with the visiting club showing a lot of hustle and heart as they battled every shift, with Mike Noyes closing the Minto lead to 2-1, goal assisted by Trevor Sauder and Drew Gerth. The 3rd period saw Trevor Sauder net the tying goal at 10:50, assisted by Lucas Bast and Tristan Hohl. In the last minute of play the Royals took the lead with Deven Kropf scoring the game winner with 15 secs left on the clock. Assists on that goal went to Matt Zilke and Trevor Sauder.
With the series tied 1-1, the Royals head into a 3 game week starting Friday 8:30pm in Palmerston on Feb 10th. We then return for a 7:30 pm game on Sat Feb 11th and look forward to seeing members of our 2007-2008 AA Championship team among others for our postponed Alumni Night.
