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Back to HomeFeature Article - February 23, 2012 Flyers lose two nail biters in OMHA quarter final playoffsby Julie Druker

Photo: Frontenac Flyers goalie Robbie Babcock played a great game against Haliburton's Highland Storm at the Frontenac Arena on Feb. 18 in what was their second last game of the series in the OMHA quarter finals.

The Frontenac Flyers Midget rep team faced off against Haliburton's Highland Storm in a closely fought home game at the Frontenac Arena on Feb.18 before a large crowd. The Flyers, who were one game down in the best out of five series in the quarter final playdowns coming into the game, were well matched against the Storm. Both teams played fast and furious in a very physical end to end game. With eight minutes left in the first period the Flyers took the lead when Ben Kennedy scored, assisted by Drake Deline.

In the second period Halliburton fought back hard and with just three minutes left, they tied it up when Ryan Hunter scored.

Also in the second period, the Frontenac Flyers leading scorer Chris Monnier took a big hit and suffered a concussion that put him out for the remainder of the game and the series.

Early in the third period, Mackenzie Hart scored a power play goal for the Flyers, giving them a 2-1 lead. The Flyers came very close to increasing that lead with no less than three close shots on net hitting the posts in the following few minutes. But Haliburton came back strong and tied it up with less than three minutes to play, and the game went to overtime.

The 10-minute overtime was well played by both teams although a number of Flyers’ shots went wide. Haliburton kept coming back though with multiple shots on Flyers goalie Robbie Babcock, who had a great game. With just over two minutes left in the overtime Haliburton snuck one by Babcock, giving the Haliburton Storm a 3-2 victory and a two games to zero series lead in advance of a third game in Haliburton the following day.

Flyers coach Rich Withey said he felt his team played a great game at home.

“I think we outplayed them in the overtime but our nemesis has been giving away shorthanded goals. We gave up four in the last two games and Haliburton is a strong team; their forwards have a lot of speed that gave our defense a bit of trouble for sure. They definitely have some shooters that like to pay if we make mistakes,” he said.

The overtime loss on Saturday coupled with the loss of Chris Monnier seemed to weigh on the team at the start of Sunday’s game.

“It was a really shaky start for us on Sunday. We took too many penalties in the first period,” Withey said.

By the end of the first period the Flyers were trailing Haliburton 6-0, and it looked like they would go quietly.

But they mounted a comeback, starting in the latter stages of the first period and continuing into the second, led by some tremendous play from Ben Kennedy. They scored four unanswered goals in the second period, two of them off the stick of Kennedy. Kennedy completed his hat trick early in the third after receiving a nice pass from Jordan Torres, bringing the Flyers to within one goal of the Haliburton Storm. But the comeback ended there.

“We played well into the third but unfortunately were unable to complete what would have been a remarkable comeback.”

Haliburton took the series in Sunday’s game, winning it 7-5.

Though they did not make the semi-finals Withey felt his team did well. “Our team is a pretty smart team and every single player is valuable. Overall we had a great season,” he said.