So became December, and the Studs began their journey to the other side of the Netherlands, to give a hard time to the Cougars. Which would be the tougher species, the fabulous horses of Enschede or the sharp-toothed cats of Hoorn?
The Studs received some rare reinforcements when Peter and Jesper joined the team, for their third and first game of the season, respectively. And boy were they good! Especially Jesper the Stud seemed to have had very healthy food on the grass fields of summer vacation, since he scored 3 assists on his comeback! He played passionately, kept on fighting for the puck even if he fell down and never gave up! Perhaps a one particular mare among the spectators gave him extra motivation to show his true skills?
But the Cougars were sneaky and deceived the Studs with some shorthanded solo talents to score two goals. The Studs didn’t like that and retributed with a power play goal before the end of the first period. The score was 2-4, and the feeling was good. The Studs could definitely give a couple of roundhouse kicks, and throw the Blue Mountain Cougars to the Blue Moon!
But something happened in the second period. The Cougars mounted the Studs and even though the Studs were bucking hard, they couldn’t get the opponent out of their backs. The Cougars scored 5 goals against the Studs’ one and only goal in the second period. However, it was a beautiful team effort! First Aafke got the puck to Paul who released his anger into a terribly powerful slapshot that hit the goalie so hard that he became dizzy, and Lauri was able to easily slide the puck in while the goalie was wondering what the heck had just hit him! A very well deserved assist point for Paul and Aafke. After the second period ended, the score was 9-3.
Then came period three and it was a tough battle. The Studs raised on their back feet and held their ground, playing the last period equal with both teams scoring once. Lauri was the Stud who got the puck in once again! He was on fire and finished the game with 4 goals, all of which were a cause of great linesmen and team play! The final score was 10-4.
Even though the game ended up as a loss, it was a good team effort with the Studs being able to control the game at many occasions. This time Hoorn was better, but the Cougars had the advantage of their natural habitat in the mountains. Just wait once they’ll arrive to the grass fields of Enschede, where the galloping Studs will trample them to defeat!