Penalty Shot
(Click on the images to enlarge — they’re sequential.)
Guest Post by the bloggohusband.
Well, Barb and the Tigers had another game this past week, this time against the Michiana Sting (from South Bend) and, though the Tigers played fairly well, they were defeated 5 – 0. The big news in the game was that Barb, for the first time as a goalie, had to face a penalty shot. As illustrated in the pictures above, the Sting’s #24 was awarded a penalty shot because one of Barb’s teammates dove on the puck (a no-no) just as Barb was about to cover it.
Since Barb had never faced a penalty shot before (where the opponent skates in unopposed and gets to take a “free shot” on the goalie), she was quite nervous about it — especially because her team’s former coach was in the stands watching (long, drawn-out story). She did a very good job, moving with the shooter (see picture #2 above) as she approached the crease — coming out to meet the skater, being on balance and well-positioned, etc. However, #24 (the Sting’s best player, who scored four of the five goals in the game) placed her shot well–high, glove side — and scored. Barb was very disappointed with this outcome, as she had hoped to be the “hero” for her team (like in the movies) and make the big save. But, as her teammates pointed out, endings like that usually only happen in the movies, and even then, it’s usually the shooter (not the goalie) who’s the hero.
Overall, though, Barb played well, as evidenced by her stats to the left, as did her team: the Sting are a “blue” level squad — one level above the Tigers — and had previously beaten the Tigers’ “blue” team 5 – 2. So, holding Michiana to only five goals and only 23 shots, was nice work by Barb and the entire team.
One other nice, “small world” moment that came out of the game was that the opposing team’s coach actually recognized Barb from her club-level career as Ohio State’s goalie. It turns out that he had previously coached at Lake Superior State, against whom Barb’s Ohio State team had played (and lost to — badly — worse than any of the losses the Orange Tigers suffered this season). So, Barb really appreciated hearing from him that she had gotten better — especially since she hasn’t played goalie (or hockey at all, for that matter) between then (2001) and now.
Also, just like the Lake Superior State team in 2001, the Sting were a good team to play against — talented and good sports. The Tigers will play them again in a couple of weeks, in South Bend, and — other than the drive — we’re looking forward to the game.
See the game pics here.
