Weise Scores in Overtime to Lift Gananda
May 5, 2018 - Gananda’s John Weise scored the game winning goal during the first overtime period. The Blue Panthers defeated Wayne 9-8 after scoring four of the last five goals. Gananda opened up the game with the first two goals. Evan Smith scored off a feed from Jake Rapp followed by Rapp scoring off a feed from Weise. Wayne responded with five unanswered goals to go up 5-2 with 2:23 remaining in the half. Brett Cunningham scored the final goal of the half to put the Blue Panthers within two goals.
Like the first half, Gananda scored the first two goals of the second half. Henry Bush scored the first goal with a drive from behind the cage. Five minutes later, Gananda tied the game for the second time at 5-5. Cunningham drove at the cage through heavy traffic. His shot missed, but was scooped up by Bush at the X. He came around the side and fed Smith at the top of the restraining line. Smith fired a low sidearm shot into the bottom corner. Wayne responded with two more goals to put them back in the lead. Similar to the Blue Panther goal, the Screaming Eagle goal began with a missed shot that was picked up behind the cage. Ryan Cahill grabbed the loose ball, cut the crease and then fed across to Dominic Stramonine on the opposite side. The second Wayne goal was a straight drive at the cage from the top by Billy Thomson.
Gananda scored the final goal of the third quarter. The goal was 15 seconds after Thomson’s goal off the faceoff. The ball was sent into the Wayne defensive area off the draw. Midfielder Joel Bean fought hard for the ball approximately 8m off the goal but could not get a handle on it. The ball was checked out of his cross before it was scooped up by Cunningham and fired into the back of the net. Wayne led 7-6 going into the final quarter.
Gananda scored the first goal of the third quarter to force the third tie of the game. Jake Rapp began the play with a hard ride on a Wayne clear. He forced a bad pass that went out on the sideline. Cunningham started with the ball and forced the ball quickly upfield. He turned a 3-on-3 into a double that caused Rapp to be open across the crease. Cunningham crossed the ball and Rapp finished before the defense could slide back into position. Wayne scored their final goal of the game on an unsettled fast-break. The Blue Panthers were called for over and back giving Wayne the ball heading up the field in a break. The offense took a 2-on-1 and pushed the defense into leaving Zach Boyatzies alone on the far side. He finished unassisted to put the Screaming Eagles back on top. The fourth and final game tying goal again began with a broken clear. Bush intercepted a pass from the Wayne goalie Jack Acker. He passed the ball up to Rapp. Rapp looked to feed Cunningham across the crease; however, the ball was knocked down by the defense. Rapp’s quick thinking led him to grab his own ground ball and step towards the crease (cutting off the defense) and tying the game with 4:42 remaining on the clock.
Late into regulation, Gananda found themselves in a two-minute non-releasable penalty. The Screaming Eagles had 0:52 remaining in regulation. They passed the ball around before and after a time out; however, could not put a shot on the cage. With seconds remaining, they held the ball going into sudden victory overtime. They began with the ball in overtime, but again could not convert. The Blue Panthers grabbed a loose ball near the crease and quickly forced the ball upfield for a fast-break. Weise scored with a fast-break drive right down the middle. His shot bounced just under the top bar to give Gananda their second overtime win of the season.
