Sept 27th, 2025. After much anticipation the
Dorchester Dragons U13 team had their first pre-season exhibition game of the
season this afternoon welcoming their LMLL rivals, the St. Mary’s Rock LL Blue Team
to the Flight Exec Centre. After a few weeks of practice everyone was excited
to get into an actual game to shake off some rust. Dorchester was settling into
new positions, and learning to play with new teammates. (photo Dorchester Forward Dexter Hacche celebrates after opening scoring for the Dragons)
Despite the time off Dorchester hit the ice skating, controlling the play much of the 1st period. The momentum shifted however towards the end of the period when Dorchester wingman Hudson Burroughs was called for a minor tripping penalty while challenging for the puck. With Burroughs in the box St. Mary’s would capitalize quickly scoring the opening goal of the game off the draw 20 seconds into the power play to give St. Marys’ a 1-0 lead. Dorchester continued to play on the back foot as Dorchester winger Cameron Gardner added a minor penalty for hooking just over a minute later to close out the period on the penalty kill.
Dorchester started the second period by successfully killing the penalty to Gardner and then they went on the offensive. Chances were numerous in the period with the St. Mary’s goalie holding Dorchester at bay with a little help from his posts as Dorchester sent 3 separate shots ringing off the iron. Dorchester finally broke through with a timely goal from left wing Dexter Hacche who made no mistake when he collected a pass in front of the net from Phoenix Stratton and Quinn Fournier to put the Dragons on the board 1-1.
Dorchester again controlled the play well into the 3rd period playing most of the game attacking in the St. Mary’s end. If St. Mary’s found a way to break through, they were quickly stymied by the Dragon’s goalie Trent Pietarinen supported by the Dorchester defence. Dorchester defenseman Rowan Kusters collected a pass again from Phoenix Stratton and sent a puck rocketing into the St. Mary’s goal to give the home town Dragons a 2-1 lead with only 1:32 left to play. Perhaps getting a little overconfident or maybe just getting tired early in the season, the Dragons took their foot off the gas allowing St. Mary’s to score the equalizer 40 seconds later to bring the score to 2-2. Earning a face-off deep in the St. Mary’s end with 36 seconds left to go and with it being a pre-season game coach Mike Gardner elected to pull goalie Trent Pietarinen just for fun and to give the team practice in that scenario. The coaches experiment backfired however as St. Mary’s was able to flick a puck in from centre with less than a second left to win the game for the Rock 3-2. Coach Mike reassured the team that he wouldn’t be so reckless in a real game.
The coaches and parents were very proud of the Dragons’ first effort of the year and found the game very entertaining. For his strong back checking and defensive play combined with his offensive flashes and goal Dorchester player Rowan Kusters collected the first player of the game award. For her smart positional play, hustle, and smooth passes which netted 2 assists, Phoenix Stratton was chosen for the Hardest Worker award. The U13 Dragons are next in action on the road this Thursday night in another pre-season exhibition game against the Thamesford Attack.