Eadie Spectacular, Dosser Dynamite, Thunder Strikes!

By Brian R. Johnston
Sunday, April 1st, 2007

Brampton, ON –

Game 1 of the Central Division Championships in the best of 3 series saw the Brampton Thunder triumphant in overtime over the Mississauga Aeros by a score of 2 – 1.

Coley Dosser’s overtime power play goal at the 7:04 mark of the first overtime period vaulted the hometown Thunder to victory and ended an onslaught by the Aeros that would have staggered most ordinary teams.

Cindy Eadie was once again, “the star of stars” for the Thunder as she carried her shut out streak to 8 periods plus before surrendering a goal that seen her down, out and surrounded by numerous white shirts that knocked the puck loose in the crease to finally beat her.

Lara Perks was awarded the Aero marker and Sommer West and Courtney Birchard were given the assists on the goal at 4:34 of the third period to open the scoring.

The Thunder responded to notch the score a minute and fifteen seconds later as Sue McCutcheon deflected the puck past Sarah Love in the Aero goal.

Cathy Devereaux and Meredith Ostrander gained assists on the play.

To many fans, the first two periods of play by the Thunder brought back memories of the Mohammed Ali strategy that was used to beat George Foreman in Zaire.

They employed a “Rope a Dope” style of play that saw the Aeros flex their muscles and throw everything they had at them, as they were out shot by a margin of over 3 – 1 with the Aeors firing 33 shots at the resilient Eadie, only to be foiled on every occasion.

The Thunder had managed only 10 shots through two periods of play and appeared to be seriously out played by the Aeros, but little did anyone know what was in store.

The third period saw an amazing resurgence of the Thunder as they played evenly with the Aeros with both teams firing 7 shots a piece at one another, but it was the Thunder that had the far better scoring chances before the period came to a close with the teams tied at 1 – 1.

In the overtime frame, it was the Thunder that affronted Sarah Love in the Aeros goal sufficiently enough to have Ken Dufton, the Head Coach of the Aeros call for their 30 second timeout.

His attempt to right his ship, by giving his players the chance to catch their breath and regroup from the Thunder’s barrage ended up being fruitless.

It was just a short time after play resumed that Lara Perks took a penalty for holding which lead to the overtime winner by Dosser.

The Thunder out shot the Aeros 6 – 0 in the overtime frame as they pulled out the victory to take a one game lead in the best of three series final.

Head Coach Donna Lynn Rosa said, “We were steady, patient and grew stronger with every shift.”

“Eadie is playing like the goaltender we knew she was and she has come through in the clutch to steal games for us when we weren’t necessarily at our best.” she continued.

Assistant Coach Carol Cooper commented, “The most dominant player of the game for us outside of Eadie was forward Kristy Zamora as she was glued to the puck all night long.”

“It didn’t matter whether she was on her skates or off her feet; she totally controlled every situation she faced in this one.” said Cooper.

Next game in the series is scheduled to be played on April 12, 2007 with the time and location still to be announced by the Aeros and the OWHA, so check your local paper or team websites regularly for confirmation of the details.

© Copyright Brian R. Johnston