On Wednesday,
the Warriors traveled to West London to battle a strong Hawks side.
Haden Frayne showed great leadership and team play by moving from his
usual position on defense to play goal for the game, covering a void in
that position due to illness. Backed by several key saves by Frayne and
exceptional team play, the Warriors rallied from a 5-2 deficit with only
5 minutes left to play. A late goal by the Hawks made the final score
6-4, despite a series of chances by the Warriors in the final two
minutes of the game with Frayne on the bench in favour of the extra
attacker. Dan
Van Straaten scored 2 goals with singles from Liam Hill and Jonas
Schmidt. Assists from Cole Meadows, Ethan Martin, Kaden Brame, and Tyson
Talsma rounded out the scoring.
Preston Tournament
This weekend the team played in the Preston International Hockey Tournament missing the playoffs by a single point. Friday morning the team defeated the Cobourg Cougars 6 to 1. All three Stratford lines were in top form for this game with Daniel Van Straaten notching a hat-trick, Owen Holloway getting two and Jonas Schmidt with 1. Assists went to Haden Frayne and Thomas Sheldon.
In the second game the team lost to the Cambridge Hawks. The team came out slow in the first period falling behind 3 to 1 and were not able to catch back up despite a strong effort in the third. Kaden Brame scored once in the first and Daniel Van Straaten scored 2 short handed goals in the third. Assists went to Tyson Talsma, Avery Thurston and Van Straaten.
In the third game the team played the Barrie colts. The game was hotly contested. Both teams fought hard and took over 4 penalties per side with the Warriors playing 2 men short for one and a half minutes. Despite numerous opportunities at both ends of the ice neither team was able to score and the game ended in a rare 0-0 tie. Congratulations to Stratford goalie James Hopper who faced 21 shots to get his fourth shutout of the year.