The Hishons Custom Novice Tier 1 Warriors had an excellent
tournament in Niagara on the Lake this past weekend, winning the Silver Medal!
The Warriors began the tournament by facing the Mooretown Jr. Flags, winning 9-0. It was a great offensive game. Quinn Appel scored a hat trick, Ryan Haines had two goals and Owen Gaylor, Mark Pyzowski, Daniel Rusen-Steele and Gabe Emms scored one a piece. Assisting the goals were Eric Haynes, Daniel Rusen-Steele, Ryan Haines (two), Owen Gaylor (two), Brett Knechtel, Kaleb Martin, Marek Carter, Colton Kuepfer. Defensively, Nathan Gibb was clearing the puck well and holding the blue line. Jesse Merkel played a great game in net, resulting with a shut-out.
The Warriors won the second game of the tournament with a score of 6-0 over the East York Bulldogs. In the first period, Isaac Nickel scored an unassisted goal to put the Warriors ahead. Marek Carter had a great stop on the blue line, keeping us in the offensive end. In the second period, the Warriors continued their aggressive offensive play with a goal from Mark Pyzowski, assisted by Noah Roth and Daniel Rusen-Steele and a goal by Gabe Emms, assisted by Isaac Nickel. In the third, Isaac Nickel scored unassisted, Ryan Haines scored, assisted by Isaac Nickel and Mark Pyzowski scored, assisted by Noah Roth. Kaleb Martin was solid on the blue line and fast back checking. Goaltender Josh Duiker had a great game including a save while lying flat in the crease in the third, allowing him to have a shut-out.
On Sunday, the Warriors faced the Newmarket Redmen for the last game of the first round, winning by a score of 5-0. Jesse Merkel had an excellent game in goal with his second shut-out of the tournament. In the second, Brett Knechtel opened the scoring, assisted by Gabe Emms. Ryan Haines rounded out the second period goals, assisted by Mark Pyzowski and Daniel Rusen-Steele. The third period was a strong one for the Warriors with two goals scored by Mark Pyzowski (assisted by Ryan Haines, Noah Roth and Daniel Rusen-Steele), and the final goal scored by Isaac Nickel, assisted by Ryan Haines. Colton Kuepfer was tough defensively on the blue line and along the boards while Marek Carter blocked two shots.
With these three wins, we moved to the semi-finals where we once again faced the Newmarket Redmen. This was an intense and tight game, with all the Warriors working hard until the very end. In the first period, Quinn Appel scored, assisted by Owen Gaylor to tie the score 1-1. In the second period, Noah Roth scored (assisted by Mark Pyzowski and Daniel Rusen-Steele), putting the Warriors ahead by one. Mark Pyzowski rounded out the second period scoring, assisted by Daniel Rusen-Steele and Noah Roth. The score was 3-1 for the Warriors. In the third, Isaac Nickel scored a goal, assisted by Gabe Emms and Brett Knechtel. The Redmen scored 2 quick goals with the score now 4-3. Ryan Haines put one in the net, assisted by Nathan Gibb and Owen Gaylor for a final score of 5-3. Nathan Gibb had an excellent game with fast back-checking and creating offensive chances while Eric Haynes did a great job of clearing the puck and holding his own on the blue line. Goalie Josh Duiker had an excellent game with a great stick save that hit the shaft of the stick and deflected into the corner.
The Warriors faced the Niagara Falls Flyers in the finals, losing 4-1, with one empty net goal. It was a hard fought game by all the Warriors. The lone Warrior goal was scored by Ryan Haines in the third, assisted by Owen Gaylor and Mark Pyzowski. Kaleb Martin worked hard to cut off scoring chances and Marek Carter had a strong game with back-checking quickly and aggressively and holding the blue line. Goaltender Jesse Merkel had an excellent game, including a big glove save in the first, that allowed us to stay in the game.
The coaches are very proud of the Warriors for playing hard this weekend, working as a team and achieving a silver medal.