Mark held Ben’s gaze for a moment. Then he nodded and stood to cheer his teammates on.
The penalty killed Leduc’s chances as the Thunder scored and continued to pick up steam. The game ended with a final score of 8–3. The Thunder had their first win!
CHAPTER 25
The Thunder played their third game that afternoon. Ben had a meeting with tournament officials and informed the boys there was good and bad news. The Leduc player was suspended from any further play in the tournament. There was a strong chance he would be suspended from league play for the rest of the year. The bad news was that Gwen had been suspended for one game. Given the circumstances and the fact that she hadn’t dropped her gloves, the tournament executive had made the one-game ruling. With a bench that had started out short, and having played a game that morning, the suspension really hurt. Being another player down meant the rest of the team would be on the floor almost non-stop.
Although they were short a player, the Thunder didn’t miss a beat. As Jimmy Quinlan had said, they’d hit a rhythm. It seemed the thrill of their first win, the adversity of the Leduc game, and the necessity of competing with fewer players than any other team in the tournament gave them extra strength and adrenaline.
The game was never in jeopardy, and they beat the Warriors 6–4. With Gwen back for their fourth game, they defeated a pesky Red Deer team 8–6. A record of three wins and one loss put them in the playoff round. The Edmonton Blues would be their next opponents, while the Rams were up against Fort Saskatchewan. The winners of those two matches would play for the gold medal. The game against the Blues was an incredible battle. The first two periods saw the teams trade goal for goal. Late in the second period, Mark scored a goal that had everyone in the stands on their feet. Taking a pass at centre floor, he bowled over an attacker who tried to squeeze him into the boards. After cutting to the middle, he faked a pass to Bobby and spun away from a second Blues defender. Picking up speed, he charged straight for the net. Two Blues players hit him hard from each side as he neared the top of the crease. Like a powerful fullback, he kept his legs moving and managed two more steps before he fired the ball into the bottom corner of the net as he fell.
The Thunder entered the third period with a 5–4 lead. Donnie did the rest. No matter what they tried, the Blues couldn’t score. With every kick and every lunge across the net, Donnie got stronger.
With one minute left in the game the Blues pulled their goalie for a sixth attacker. As time wound down, they peppered Donnie only to be met with frustration. On one last attack by the Blues, Donnie did the final damage. Gaining control of the ball after stopping a shot, he lobbed it the length of the floor where it took three bounces and lazily floated into the empty net. The game was over — Thunder 6, Blues 4. Donnie was so excited at not only winning the game but scoring a goal that he was literally dancing on the spot as the rest of the team mobbed him in front of the net.
The boys received word that the Rams had won their game against Fort Saskatchewan, so it would be an Inuvik–St. Albert rematch in the final. But this time it would be a very different Inuvik team playing against the Rams.
CHAPTER 26
The afternoon of the championship game Ben walked into the boys’ dressing room with Gwen and found everyone deathly quiet.
“I don’t think there’s an empty seat out there,” Gwen said, sitting beside Mike. “I even saw TV cameras along one side of the arena.”
Donnie seemed startled. “TV cameras?”
Ben nodded. “Two of the local stations have cameras here for the game. We can watch the highlights of our win tonight.”
Some of the players had smiles pasted on their faces, but they were tight-lipped, short-lived ones. Clearing his throat, Ben moved to the centre of the room. As he prepared to speak, Mike stood and walked over to his father. “I’ve got something to say.”
Ben stepped off to the side. “Go ahead, Mike.”
“Well, I’m not great at this, guys, but we’ve got an amazing team. We’re all pretty quiet right now, and that’s good because we need to focus. And we’re likely a little nervous, but I bet the guys in the Rams’ dressing room are even more nervous. When we put this team together, it was great, but I didn’t really think we’d do much. I figured we’d come out here and get killed by everybody but that it would be fun to play lacrosse again. Then I saw how incredible all of you are and I knew we had a chance.”
Mike paused for a moment, then continued. “Man, we’ve only lost one game! The Rams know that, and they’ve seen us get better every time we play. The pressure’s on them in front of their home crowd. We’re just a bunch of newbies from the North who weren’t supposed to win a single game. Now look at us. I bet when we run onto the floor in a few minutes the crowd’s going to cheer just as loud for us as they do for St. Albert. And they should. We’re good, man! We’re better than good. We’re exciting to watch. We’re a team, and we have fun when we play. So let’s put it together, keep it going, and win this for Inuvik!”
“Yaaaaaa!” The players jumped to their feet and started to put on their helmets and gloves. Ben led the way into the tunnel to the playing surface, with Donnie close behind and then the other players. They heard a cheer as they opened the door, signalling that the Rams had taken the floor. Ben stood aside, and as Donnie burst out of the tunnel with the other players behind him, another cheer rose from the stands. To Mike it sounded even louder than the one the Rams had received a few minutes ago.
Mike tried to avoid looking at the Rams’ end of the floor as the Thunder conducted warm-up drills and took shots at Donnie. The one time he did glance back he saw Warchuk standing at centre floor. Their eyes met, and after what seemed a long couple of seconds, the Rams player nodded slightly. Mike returned the nod courteously, but knew that this game was going to be out-and-out war.
When the referee blew his whistle, the teams gathered in front of their benches and gave one last cheer before the game began. Mike was starting with Mitchell and Tyler, along with Joseph and Dennis as shooters. They faced Ryan, Taylor, Eric Warchuk, Spencer, and Matt Borodawka. Matt was a big, aggressive shooter who loved to run the ball up the floor.
“Hey, Mike,” Ryan said as they came together for the faceoff.
“Hey, yourself,” Mike said.
“You ready for this?”
“Yeah, Ryan, it should be fun. And you guys won’t be scoring ten goals this time.”
As he knelt for the faceoff, Ryan shrugged. “We’ll see.”
Ryan cleanly won the faceoff, but Mitchell out-hustled Taylor and scooped up the ball. Dodging a check from Matt, he tossed a quick pass to Mike, who slowed the tempo down and walked the ball into the Rams’ zone. Keeping an eye on the thirty-second clock, the Thunder moved the ball around the outside. With Tyler holding the ball in the corner, the middle opened up. Joseph broke for the net, yelling for the ball. As the pass sank into the basket of his stick, he drew back and fired. Kirk Miles didn’t see the shot, but it was slightly off target and struck the post with a thud, then ricocheted back toward the Thunder’s end with incredible velocity.
Everyone was caught off guard, and with both Joseph and Dennis in deep, Warchuk was after the ball in a flash. Seeing the ball bouncing toward him from the Rams’ end with Warchuk in hot pursuit, Donnie charged out of his net on a collision course with the Rams player. Just before they collided, Warchuk’s outstretched stick swept the ball up as he dodged Donnie’s flailing body. Regaining his balance, Warchuk jogged in all alone and lightly shot the ball into the empty net. As the crowd cheered, Warchuk stood beside the net with his arms in the air. With just under a minute gone on the clock, the Rams were up 1–0. Donnie slammed his stick against the floor in frustration as he marched back to his net.
“Change it up!” Ben shouted. “Let’s all settle down and get that one back!”
This time Bobby won the faceoff, and Mark scooped up the ball. Passing it to Gwen, he ran to the front of the net and battled with Scott Suther
land for position. Scott was much taller, but he found Mark almost impossible to budge. Gwen threw the ball back to Billy, who passed it across to David. David in turn lobbed the ball quickly to Gwen. Pretending to pass, Gwen dodged a check and sprinted for the net. She faked a shot, then moved as if she were going to pass over her shoulder. When Kirk went for the fake, she fired the ball into the top corner of the net. The game was tied. All Kirk could do was shake his head.
The rest of the first period proved to be a defensive struggle, with both Donnie and Kirk making several beautiful saves. Ryan scored a nice one for the Rams when he took a pass from Brady and popped the ball behind Donnie with a quick stick shot. Joseph answered back for the Thunder just before the end of the period with a shot so hard that it spun the stick out of Kirk’s hands before squirting between his pads and into the net.
With the score tied 2–2, both teams were cautious at the beginning of the second period. The tide shifted in favour of the Thunder when Tyler laid out Cayln Butz with an unbelievable hit. Despite a slender build, much like Cayln’s, Tyler loved to hit, and when he caught Cayln with his head down, he unloaded. Then Spencer came in late for the Rams and flattened Tyler with a solid check. The referee’s arm immediately shot up, and Spencer went to the penalty box for two minutes.
Ben put Mike, Gwen, Tommy, Bobby, and Joseph on the floor. Setting up in the Rams’ zone, they moved the ball quickly around the outside. Gwen and Tommy had adjusted quickly to the idea of staying in motion and presented Kirk with a steady flow of moment in front of his net. Once again, Joseph moved in closer after every pass. Finally, receiving the ball once more from Bobby, he reared back for a shot. Remembering the last rocket Joseph launched at Kirk, the Rams seemed to freeze. This time Joseph took a little bit off the ball and fired wide to Mike, who was standing at the edge of the crease. As the ball entered his pocket, Mike fired it into the net.
That goal seemed to energize the Thunder, and even though the Rams were back at full strength, Mike and his team took control and peppered Kirk with shot after shot. It finally paid off when an off-speed rocket by Ricky Alexie fooled Kirk and got behind him into the net. The period ended with the score 4–2 for the Thunder.
Ben didn’t have to say much between periods. The team was tired, and the test in the third and final period would be whether they could outlast the fresher legs on the Rams’ squad. With three full lines St. Albert had a distinct advantage.
The first five minutes of the last period had no rhythm for either team. There were missed passes and shots, with a true lack of ball control by both squads. Donnie was sensational and frustrated the Rams at every opportunity. And during the entire tournament his passes up the floor had become much more accurate with each game. That made it all the more devastating when Donnie attempted to lob the ball to Joseph at the side of the net and Warchuk intercepted it. Diving back, Donnie caught part of the shot, but it wasn’t enough. The score was now 4–3 for the Thunder.
That goal invigorated the Rams, and they relentlessly attacked the Thunder, who were now starting to display fatigue. Time after time the Rams ran up the floor with the Inuvik players trying to match them stride for stride. With eight minutes left in the game, the Thunder tried to hold on with mounting desperation. Mike had Spencer lined up for a hit in the corner and braced himself for contact as he lunged. Spencer turned away to avoid the check, and though he tried to adjust, Mike couldn’t stop. He struck Spencer flush in the back, and they both tumbled to the floor.
Mike heard the referee’s whistle, and glancing up, saw his arm in the air. Pointing at Mike, he shouted, “Five minutes for hitting from behind!” Mike’s heart sank.
Enraged, Ben jumped onto the bench and let the referee know how bad a call he’d made.
“One more word, Coach,” the referee warned, “and not only will your team go down another man for a technical, but you’ll be out of the game, too.”
Ben hopped back behind the bench, still livid. Collecting his thoughts, he sent Joseph, Ricky, Mitchell, and Bobby onto the floor. All Mike could do was sit in the penalty box and blame himself for a stupid penalty.
The Rams’ power play started slow, and several times the Thunder stole the ball, allowing Mitchell to rag it and waste time, frustrating the Rams to no end. But it couldn’t last. The Thunder were just too tired. Brady finally broke free in the corner and outraced Gwen to the front of the net, depositing the ball low on Donnie’s stick side. The game was tied 4–4, and the penalty still wasn’t over.
St. Albert could smell blood. Gaining control of the ball, the Rams set up once more in the Thunder’s end. They passed the ball quickly around the perimeter, forcing the weary Thunder players out of position. With only seconds left in Mike’s penalty, Scott ripped a shot over Donnie’s shoulder and into the net. Donnie slumped to the floor, and the crowd went wild as the Rams mobbed Scott.
With three minutes left and the score 5–4 for the Rams, St. Albert wasn’t taking any chances. The Rams stayed aggressive to pressure the Thunder, who continued to flag but also kept two men well back at all times. As the clock wound down, the Thunder’s spirits began to sag, and Mike felt as if he were going to be sick.
Ben called a timeout with fifty seconds remaining on the clock. “Okay, boys, this is it. As soon as play starts, I want someone to pressure the ball carrier immediately if they get possession. Donnie, if we get possession, I want you to hustle to the bench. Got it?” Donnie nodded, his face slick with sweat. “I want Mike, Joseph, Gwen, Tommy, and Bobby on the floor. Mark, I want you ready to get out there when Donnie comes to the bench.” Ben studied the faces in front of him. “Are we ready?”
“Yeah,” the team said not too enthusiastically.
“Are we ready?” Ben shouted again, this time at the top of his lungs.
“Yeah!” the team shouted a lot louder.
The referee blew his whistle, and the teams walked back onto the floor. When the Rams were ready, the referee tossed Spencer the ball and blew the game back into play. Spencer took his time moving, and Bobby was all over him quickly, so he passed the ball to Cayln, who jogged into the Thunder’s zone. Mike and Gwen ran at Cayln with their sticks in the air. Cayln forced a bounce pass between them to Ryan in the corner, but Joseph was too quick. With his long reach he lunged and tipped the pass away. Bobby scooped up the ball, stopped behind the net, and spotted Tommy breaking up the left side.
“Here, here!” Tommy cried.
Bobby threw a perfect pass that Tommy caught on the fly. Only Eric Warchuk stood between him and the Rams’ net. Bending his knees, the Rams defender hunched over, waiting for Tommy to try to get by.
With a slight hesitation and a hop, Tommy broke into an all-out sprint directly at Warchuk. As Tommy continued to gain speed, Warchuk braced himself for the crash and crouched lower.
“Oh, man, he’s not …” Mike whispered to no one in particular.
Gwen gasped beside him. “Jeez, I think he is!”
Just as Warchuk leaned forward to meet the oncoming charge, Tommy left his feet. Pulling his legs close to his body, he sailed over Warchuk’s head, clearing the helmet of the Rams player easily. Unable to pull back, Warchuk fell forward onto the floor as Tommy landed and continued to run. In all alone on Kirk, he faked high and shot low on the startled goalie. Kirk dropped with the shot, closing his pads and squeezing the ball. Tommy stopped by the net and watched, thrusting his arms into the air as the ball trickled from beneath Kirk and into the net. Catching up to the play, the referee threw both his arms up, indicating a goal. The arena erupted in cheers and a babble of excited conversations as people attempted to absorb in disbelief what they had just seen. The Thunder swarmed Tommy as he ran to the bench. The score was 5–5 with fifteen seconds left on the clock.
Ben left the same line on the floor to face the final seconds against the Rams, and Mike moved into the faceoff circle with Ryan once more.
Ryan shook his head as they knelt. “That was unbelievable!”
Mike
nodded. “You should see the guy when he plays basketball.”
The referee stepped back and blew his whistle. Ryan and Mike pushed down with all their might to gain enough leverage to win control of the ball. Finally, Mike drew it out and to the side where Gwen picked it up and ran toward the Rams’ zone. Turning around anxiously, she hesitated, then passed back to Joseph, who fired a blistering shot that missed the net as the buzzer sounded to end the third period. Overtime!
The referee explained to the teams that they would play a ten-minute sudden-death overtime period. If the game wasn’t settled after that, there would be a shootout.
Ben studied the tired faces of his players. “Look, gang, you’ve played harder than any team I’ve ever coached. Be proud. No one expected a team from Inuvik to win a single game. We’re playing overtime in the gold-medal championship. Can you win the next ten minutes?”
“Yeah!”
“Can you win the game?”
“Yeah!”
“Okay. Let’s go with the same line, but, Mark, I want you out for Tommy.”
Mike slowly walked to the faceoff circle where Ryan already stood. “Do you believe this, man?”
“You guys are truly awesome,” Ryan said. “Let’s hope the winner’s a good goal.”
The two friends exchanged fist bumps and knelt one more time. When the referee blew his whistle, Ryan dug hard and drew the ball to the side out of the faceoff circle. Bobby darted after the ball and snagged it in his stick. First possession belonged to the Thunder!
Bobby passed to Gwen, who threw the ball over to Mike as he jogged into the Rams’ zone. Setting up their box, the Rams thrust their sticks into the air, trying to thwart any pass. Mike threw the ball to Joseph, who drew back to shoot, but then passed to Mark. Mark lunged as if to run at the net but passed to Bobby at the side of the net. Bobby one-timed it over to Mike, who fired away. Kirk flicked out his leg and kicked the ball to the corner. Scooping up the ball, Scott led the Rams’ attack up the floor.
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