Squirt Minors Weekend Report
This past Saturday (March 4) the Clippers' Squirt Minors traveled to the
Northford Ice Pavilion to take on the Mid Fairfield Squirt Minors Tier
1. This game was to determine the CHC Squirt Minors Tier 1 champion.
The Clippers were down two key personnel, but the remaining skaters
increased their intensity and took it to the Mid Fairfield squad.
Taggart Corriveau opened the scoring for the Clippers, taking a feed
from the defense and skated past the opposing defenseman. He rifled a
shot past a surprised Mid-Fairfield goaltender. The Mid-Fairfield team
kicked into gear and came back to build a 3-1 lead going into the third
period. In the third, the Clippers worked the puck up the boards to the
red line where Nick Adamsons then took the puck down the wing and went
"top shelf" to bring the Clippers within a goal at 3-2. After continued
significant pressure from the Clippers, leading to a time-out by
Mid-Fairfield, the Mid-Fairfield squad settled down to score. Operating
under
a two goal deficit (4-2), the Clippers tried to increase their offensive
pressure in the Mid-Fairfield zone, which ultimately led to three-on-one
and three-on-two breakout goals for Mid-Fairfield. Even though
Mid-Fairfield won the championship 6-2, the runner-up Clippers could hold
their heads high as they maintained a strong effort from the opening
face-off to the final horn. It was an effort that the team can build
upon as it closes out its New England Elite league schedule and
tournament.Sunday, March 5, the Squirt Minors went "Moose hunting." They traveled to Tewksbury, MA to take on NEEHL rival New England Moose. Again the Clippers were playing with a short bench, but their intensity from the Mid-Fairfield game the day before carried over. The Clippers opened the scoring when Taggart Corriveau and Adam Shea broke out for a two-on-one rush in the Moose zone. Corriveau went wide, drawing the defenseman to him, and then backhanded the puck over to Shea, who just had to redirect the puck past the Moose goaltender. Shea scored the second goal, again resulting from intense pressure and nice passing. In the third period, Corriveau closed out the scoring. He took the puck behind the Moose goal and as he attempted to pass to a teammate in the slot, he shot the puck off the back of the Moose goalie into the net. Throughout the game the Clippers defensive effort made it difficult for the Moose to have any significant scoring chances. When they did, goaltender Al Rogers shut them down, to post his 10th shutout of the season. Just as important as the 3-0 NEEHL road victory was that the Clippers skated with intensity and they skated with their heads up looking to share the puck with their teammates. A great effort!
Article written by Karl Adamsons.
