The 2019-2020 season is off to a good start. On the 3rd weekend of September, the Whalers took to the ice and hosted the Nanaimo Islanders for their home opener. The Islanders have been known throughout the Island as being a power house, with many veterans players on their roster. In the last few meetings between the two teams, games had been fairly even with the Whalers winning some and losing some. This first game of the year was no different.
The first period saw the Whalers spent a bit of time in their end, possibly wanting to reassure their new full time goalie Emily Murray and keep her company??? oops, well the Islanders were first to break the ice to take the lead in the 14th minute. But hold on, the Whalers have not been practicing relentless in the last month just to fold over and wait for the end to come. Sorry Em, we are out of here! Within 2 minutes of the 2nd period, Briana Forberg decided it was time to even out the score to 1-1. The play went on back and forth with many chances on both sides. Nanaimo dug in a little deeper towards the end of the period to score a second goal and come out on top for the start of the 3rd.
The scale started tipping even more in favour of the Islanders in minute 15 with another goal from the visitors. Despite the score being 3-1 for Nanaimo, one could actually see the Whalers were a little bit stronger. Unable to score and feeling the end approaching, the engines were turned on and two quick goals were potted in by the Whalers. Ashley Abraham got a perfect pass from Forberg and decisively made the back of the net swish like tarp during a monsoon and Jess Sekulich joined in on the party 40 seconds later with a beauty to make it 3-3. Unfortunately, the Whalers may have celebrated the tie a little too long and within 30 seconds, Nanaimo scored a 4th to make it the game winner.
It wasn’t for a lack of effort that the Whalers saw the game slip away. The Whalers took on one the best teams on the Island for the first game of the season and managed to give the opposition a good run for their money. Nothing like getting thrown into the lion’s den right off the bat. Coach said she was very impressed by the passing and the team position. May need to work on some puck handling and possibly some scoring from our checking line!
Thanks to Lindsay Stack for scorekeeping and to Patrick Murray for the great action pictures!
Next game is Saturday September 27th against Port Alberni. Puck drop at 5:30pm Sport Centre rink 2.
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