Photo by Vince Fedoroff
EYE ON THE BALL - The goaltender for the Whitehorse Dental Donkeys stares at a high shot during the team's contest against Capital Towing in Sunday's Bob Park Memorial Ice Breaker broomball tournament final at Takhini Arena.
Photo by Vince Fedoroff
EYE ON THE BALL - The goaltender for the Whitehorse Dental Donkeys stares at a high shot during the team's contest against Capital Towing in Sunday's Bob Park Memorial Ice Breaker broomball tournament final at Takhini Arena.
One goal was all the Whitehorse Dental Donkeys needed in the final of this year's Bob Park Memorial Ice Breaker broomball tournament.
One goal was all the Whitehorse Dental Donkeys needed in the final of this year's Bob Park Memorial Ice Breaker broomball tournament.
In a closely fought contest between the tournament's two remaining undefeated teams, the Dental Donkeys scored early and maintained the lead, winning 1-0 over Capital Towing Sunday at Takhini Arena.
"It feels great," said Dental Donkey goal scorer Chris Nash. "I have been with this group for a long time. We are all friends and know each other well and we have a good time and that's what it's all about."
Sunday's final was the second time the two teams met up during the three-day co-ed tournament. Both teams also played Saturday to conclude the round robin. A late goal by Stuart Campbell, with just 20 seconds remaining in the game, helped Capital Towing to a 2-2 tie.
The battle for first place got off to a quick start with Nash netting his goal in the opening minute. Nash scored the goal after he had a clear path from the side of the net and was able to tuck the ball into the left-hand side of the goal cage.
Capital Towing had chances of its own, which included around two minutes of pressure in the Dental Donkeys' zone around the half way point of the opening period.
Capital Towing's scoring chances came to the delight of a small, but enthusiastic crowd. The crowd of slightly more than 10 people sat, for the most part, behind Capital Towing's bench and cheered the team on throughout the entire game.
Despite the scoring chances for the two teams, the period ended 1-0 thanks to solid netminding on both ends of the ice.
Capital Towing had its best scoring chance of the game mid way through the second period on a spinning backhand shot directly in front of the goal cage. The goaltender for the Dental Donkeys stayed with the shot the whole way and was able to close the five hole just in time to make the save.
The crowd displayed no shortage of support for Capital Towing with the game winding down.
"Go blue go!" was heard being shouted from some of the younger spectators attending the final.
Nearing the end of the game, Capital Towing pulled its goaltender, hoping for a repeat of Saturday's contest, however, this time around the Dental Donkeys wouldn't relinquish the lead. Time ran out after the whistle was blown in the Whitehorse Dental Donkeys zone.
"I was really happy with the way Capital Towing played," said Capital Towing player Scott Smith. "Our goalie did a fantastic job for us all weekend."
Coyne was also victorious Sunday in the third place game against Roadhouse, winning 3-2.
This was the third annual Bob Park Memorial Ice Breaker, which this year featured a slightly different format that included two 17-minute periods as a opposed to three 15-minute periods, which has been done in the past. The change was a result of two Yukon teams going to the 2008 World Broomball Championships in Burnaby, B.C. in November. The Yukon squads will feature one co-ed and one men's masters group. A broomball match at the world's includes two 18-minute periods.
Six teams played in the tournament this weekend, with the Yukon News taking fifth place and Builders Supplyland coming in sixth.
Bob Park was an advocate of broomball both as a player and sponsor.
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