It could have been so sweet: a one-game playoff matchup to settle Sunshine Coast bragging rights at a tournament nowhere near the Sunshine Coast.
The Sunshine Coast Ducks had done their part, fighting back from 5-3 down to win 6-5 (the winning goal coming with 20 seconds left on the clock) in a battle of third-place teams at last weekend's North Delta Atom C spring tournament.After finishing third in its own division, the Sunshine Coast Panthers needed to beat the South Delta Thunder on Monday to reach the consolation final versus the Ducks. It was not to be.
After conceding the opening goal just 15 seconds in, the Panthers allowed a second minutes later before goalie Liam Forster closed the door to every other shot he faced. Forster had already proved himself to be one of the best goalies at the tournament during Sunday's skills competition.
In the meantime, the Panthers piled on the offence, buzzing around the Thunder's net and finally being rewarded in the third period with Keenan Flemming scoring half way through the period.
With time ticking away, the Panthers redoubled their efforts, laying siege to the Thunder's net as the final buzzer sounded to conclude a 2-1 defeat. It was no surprise the Thunder's stellar goalie was nominated as MVP while solid defenceman Ryan Judd earned MVP honours for the Panthers.
The Panthers had started the tournament brightly on Saturday, beating the South Delta Eagles 8-3 on a hat trick from game MVP Brody Hughes, two goals a piece from Kyle White and Keenan, plus a single from Nick Stinchcombe, with Jackson Vignal and Tevis Watts earning assists. Defencemen Jordy Fawcett, Dylan Hubel, Jack West and Ryan performed admirably in front of Liam to stymie the Eagles' offence.
On Sunday, Jack earned his first assist while game MVP Dylan and Jackson joined the goal scorers in a heartbreaking 9-8 defeat to the North Delta Flames, in which the Panthers had fought back from deficits of 3-1 and 6-3 to stay in the game.A habit of conceding early goals was to haunt the Sunshine Coast side again Sunday afternoon when they found themselves 4-0 down to Cloverdale (somewhat harshly since the first 'goal' actually hit the post) after the first period before the Panthers responded with goals in the second and third periods -Keenan taking MVP honours in this one.
In the face of bigger rosters and some bruising encounters the boys responded admirably, working hard and never giving up.
