Photo by Stephanie Denny
Cup between Trent and Fleming took place this past weekend at the Evinrude center. Several students came out to support the Trent team as they played their hardest to defeat Fleming. Unfortunately it was not enough to come out on top, and in the end Trent lost 6-3 against their local town rivals Fleming.
The first period started off with Fleming winning the face off, and heading straight for Trent’s net. Fleming made their first appearance on the score board, less than 3 minutes into the game with the first goal on the period. Try as he might #33 Jack Barry, the Trent goalie for the first half of the game, was unable to stop Fleming’s rapid firing as they scored their second goal only a minute later.
For the next several minutes, both teams fought hard to gain possession of the puck, as the puck went back and forth between the two teams. With 7 minutes left in the period Trent made their mark on the score board, but not in the manner that everyone would like. Trent received the first penalty of the game for hooking, served by #99 Dan Leone. The first period ended with a score of 2-0 for Fleming, and only one penalty.
The second period was by far the most entertain for the large crowd of over 300 spectators, as within the first 30 seconds, a fight broke out between one player from either team. Although it was over quickly with the help of the refs intervention, the crowd went crazy, shouting from the stands. Both players received a 4 minute penalty, served by #91 Matt McIver for Trent and #23 for Fleming.
Two minutes later, Fleming gained the advantage and scored their third goal of the game. Fleming tried to get another shot, but Trent wouldn’t have any of it as their goal made an amazing glove save.
However, the excitement was not over. With six minutes left in the period, a massive fight between Trent and Fleming broke out, with almost every player on the ice joining in on the action. The fans went wild, hooting and hollering, hoping it would not end. I did not think it was possible, but once Trent Jerseyed one of the Fleming players, the crowd got even louder, hoping for the victory.
Unfortunately, it was time for the referee intervention before it went any further. Two players from each team were made to sit in the penalty box. For Trent #7 Chris McVeety and # 93 Brett Bishop, and for Fleming they were served by #6 and #10.
It was time to get back to the game, and Trent has swapped out their goalies, which put #1 Trevor Green in net. Only 20 seconds after the playing resumed, Trent got their first goal of the game. It was scored by #44 Danny Hyatt.
Trent was making a comeback, but this didn’t keep them out of the penalty box, as #19 Doug Moore was sent to the box. This meant that Trent had 3 men in the penalty box at once. With this, the second period came to an end, Trent losing 3-1.
During this intermission, the Chuck-a-puck contest and the 50/50 raffle took place, with many happy fans winning amazing donated prizes.
The third period started with Trent getting another penalty, by #4 Marco Conte, and Fleming scoring on the power play by #16. Only a few minutes later, Fleming scored yet another goal, making the score 5-1.
The tension was rising as Trent knew it was time to retaliate. They kicked it into high gears, and that’s when #89 Jeffrey Ryan Minicola scored another goal for Trent, attempting to slowly close the gap. But not long after that #89 Jeffrey Ryan Minicola was in the penalty box. With the power play on their side, Fleming took the advantage of the 5 on 4, and score their 6th goal of the game.
Fleming thought that they didn’t have to try anymore, with a big enough lead, but they didn’t realize how determined Trent was to come out on top. With less than three minutes left in the final period #89 Jeffrey Ryan Minicola took a shot and scored Trent’s third goal of the game with a little help from #12 on the Fleming team.
Trent kicked it into high gear as they tried their hardest to score more goals, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful, and in the final 30 second #7 Chris McVeety was given the final penalty of the game. The game came to an end, and Fleming won the Kawartha Cup with a 6-3 win.
After the game, I got to chat with #89 Jeffrey Ryan Minicola, the assistant captain of the team, who scored two goals during the game. He said it felt great to score those goal, and gave the credit to his linemates #19 Doug Moore and # 9 Rory Lepage. They had been playing well together all game and have lots of chemistry.
When I asked Ryan how he believed the game went, he responded in the way a true captain would “We started out pretty slow, which can be from a tiring day Friday as we played 5 games and won the University of Toronto Tournament. We started to play better towards the end of the game but it seemed to little too late.”
For less than one month of planning, there was a fairly large turnout as over 350 fans showed up to the game, to cheer on their fellow peers, and even more people showed up to the after party at Sin City to help support their team. The team raised approximately $1700 between the game and the after party, which will be used to help the team lower their costs.
The Trent Men’s Extramural hockey is hoping to build off the success of this year’s game and make it even bigger next year. Good luck next year boys!