Scrimmage v Crow River, Part 8

Many sports require an athlete to hit a target. In basketball, you shoot the ball at the basket. Baseball pitchers strive for precision in getting the ball over the plate, and fielders need to throw with accuracy. In football, if you're not running to get away from somebody, you're running at them or throwing to them. Golf is all about hitting a target, whether that's the ball with the club because you're a novice or the pin with the ball when your handicap is low.

Then there are the few sports where the whole point is to miss the target. You have to miss all of the opposing players in volleyball. And you have to miss the goal tender in soccer and in hockey. But lots of kids shoot the puck right into the goalie's pads. Some part of our brains must be wired to shoot at something.

I'm not saying that goalies don't have to work hard to make saves because shooters aim the puck right at them. Net minders do have to work hard. There are lots of shots that don't go right at them. But at the squirt level, that's often because the shooter missed! It seems like it's not very often that a shooter really tries to miss, or, to be more precise, is able to aim at the empty spots in the corners of the net.

About half way through the third period, the Crow River shooters started aiming at the corners of the net, and they didn't miss. Then it really is hard for goalies to make saves. The Crow River team was not just aggressive, they were also very good. Within the last few minutes of the game, they scored two goals. Then came the controversy at the final buzzer, when they hit the corner of the net one more time. Some of the Richfield fans thought the shot went in before the buzzer; others were sure the puck never left the shooter's stick before the buzzer was just an echo. The referees didn't react right away. But at some moment during their skate toward the booth they made their decision. The goal was good and the score was 4-4. The teams tied.

Shots that had earlier been hitting the goalie started missing, which meant they went into the corners of the net. This is the beginning of the comeback.

We continued to play offense as Gavin goes for a puck behind the Tigers' net.

While some players worked the boards, others made book on the outcome.

Here's the second of the three goals. I didn't get a photo of the third because I thought the game was over.

Good luck to the Spartan team in the first game of the district playoffs tonight. I hope they can prove me wrong about their need to use the goalie as a target. In other words, shoot for the corners of the net.