The Colts gave their fans another nail biter on Sunday, winning in overtime against Arlington Martin, 4-3 at the Plano Dr Pepper Star Center. Junior Cody Hanson, #9, (photo, left) continued his hot streak, scoring the tying goal with just 28 seconds left in the third to take the team into OT.There was no shortage of excitement from the opening puck drop, in a cleanly played game with lots of pucks flying at the net. Both goalies had great games, as the Colts pummeled Arlington goalie Ben Smedema with 45 shots on goal, and Arlington hit Colts goalie Paul Hinojo with 35.
Only Colts captain Ethan Fox was able to get past Smedema early, which he did twice, once while shorthanded and unassisted. His second goal, during a power play press, came from a pass from Hanson. The Fox-Hanson duo is working well this season. Fox leads the team in points, and Hanson has 12 points -- five goals and seven assists -- in the ten games thus far this season, including the pre-season tournament.
The Colts defense was strong on Sunday, a fact that isn't readily apparent in box sheets, but that certainly deserves mention. Seniors Justin Ivy, Dylan Nessman, and Tanner Holubar all had good games, as did freshman Austin Ivy, with the four keeping the pressure on Arlington both inside and outside the zone, stealing the puck, and blocking shots. Adrian Newbern got in there and did his job too, and managed to keep his cool even when on the receiving end of some questionable calls. Dalton Watkins notched up his aggressive side a bit and added some valuable plays on both sides of the ice. Alex Novosel and Michael Bohling are welcome additions to the team who seemed to fit right into the lines, filling some much needed depth for this year's Colts.
It was, however, Hanson, who provided one of the most exciting moments of the game, when late, late, LATE in the third, with the Colts trailing 3-2 and short-handed, he took an Austin Ivy-Fox pass on the move from the left toward a huge skirmish in front of the net. While everyone from both teams seemed to be pushing, shoving, and blocking his way, Hanson scooped up the puck, crashed toward the net, and zipped a shot through the traffic and past the goalie's right side, before flying around the back of the net stick in the air in celebration of the goal. When the crowd cleared the ref signaled the point, and the game was tied 3-3 with less than half a minute to go.
Energized by their late period goal, the Colts hit overtime with a vengeance. An obviously tired Arlington Martin team was pretty much out of gas in OT, while the Colts dominated the ice with the goal of winning. Just a couple minutes into overtime, freshman Austin Ivy took a pass from Dylan Nessman, and as Arlington scrambled to react and shift left, Ivy carefully aimed his slapshot just perfectly and sent the puck screaming into the goal for the game winning shot. Incidentally, that Austin Ivy goal, his first of the season, was brilliantly reminiscent of those measured zingers of former Colts Nathan Hunke and Assistant Coach Justin Richardson. Absolutely beautiful!
The "Never Give Up Award" for the game goes to 8th grader Cody Richardson, who at one point got literally launched into the glass by a much larger Martin player while in pursuit of the puck. Cody then got trapped on the ground by a swarm of Martin players and some Colts fighting for the puck, yet Richardson kept defending, even while on his stomach pinned to the ice, until the melee was finally broken up by a ref.
The Arlington Martin game definitely showed that the Colts want to win. The team should be proud of how it hit the ice with that goal in mind and stuck with it until they achieved that win. Congratulations Colts! Kudos go out to our great coaches: Coach Hall, Coach Hanson, and Coach Richardson. Our fast-improving team couldn't do it without you!
The Colts face division rival St. Marks on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 6:30 in Farmer's Branch.
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