Saturday November 12th saw the Hiller Realty Minor Peewee Rep Team have a home game against the Kitchener Jr Rangers Blue.
The Warriors were down three of their regular team mates and welcomed Ryan Haines and Isaac Nickel from the Major Atom Rep team for the game. The first period saw play fairly equally balanced between the two teams. The period ended with the score 0-0.
The second period remained scoreless until the Rangers made a big move and got one past goalie Keifer MacNeil. A few minutes later the Warriors got a penalty and Kitchener scored again on the power play. Haines and Nickel really tried to get us back in the game with a shot off the post by Haines and another chance with a cross crease pass from Haines to Nickel in which the goalie robbed him with an amazing save. Cole Meadows also had a great scoring chance on a backhand shot but another smooth save by Kitchener’s goalie.
Starting the third period the Warriors kept trying to get on the scoreboard. MacNeil was keeping us in the game with multiple saves. Stratford got on the power play but Kitchener scored a short handed goal to make it 3-0. In the end the Kitchener goalie who had been on fire all game maintained the shut out and we lost 3-0.
Game #2 - Sunday vs. Waterloo Wolves
The Hiller Realty Minor Peewee Rep Team headed to RIM Park to face the Waterloo Wolves for the last game before the split into AA/A.
The first few minutes of the game saw Drew Tessmer, called up from the Minor Peewee MD, make a nice pass down to Hayden White-Roy. Wes Duiker also made the puck move down the ice but the Warriors did not get a shot on net until much later in the period. Thomas Sheldon faced a 2-1 and forced them into a weak shot which goalie Lucas Jacklin easily saved. With 5 minutes left in the period the first penalty of the game got called and Avery Thurston worked hard defensively for an effective penalty kill. Jacklin had a very impressive save in which it looked like he did a full set of splits! Sam Jeffrey had the first shot of the game on net and had some other good chances through the game. Colton Gibson was keeping up with the Wolves defensively and the period ended scoreless.
Early in the second period the Warriors got on the powerplay. Kaden Brame and Danny Van Straaten had some good shots on net. The Warriors got a penalty and now it was 4-4 hockey. Just when the Wolves got their man out of the box, they were called for another penalty. We were back to 4-4. No goals were scored during this and the game remained 0-0. Ryan Middegaal was playing again for the Rep team and had another excellent game. He took a big slap shot that went a bit wide and players ducked away to not get hit with the rocket! Luke Heisz also shot one hard from the point that went along the crease off the goalie’s pads. Heisz had a strong defensive game for the full three periods. Van Straaten made a hard slap shot a few minutes later but this goalie was keeping everything out. The Wolves got a penalty to end the period and Thurston made a nice shot but it got blocked by a Waterloo forward.
The third period had a great start with the Warriors keeping it down in the Waterloo end for the first minute. Then it headed towards Jacklin who was prepared and had multiple rapid fire saves. Van Straaten had a great shot and Waterloo’s goalie did a glove save but it popped out and fans groaned as it rolled out of the crease, so close! With 9 minutes left in the game Waterloo scored on a power play goal to take the lead. Shortly after the Wolves got a penalty and Brame fired off some good shots to try to tie it up. Coincidental minors got called and the play was still 5-4. Lucas Jacklin rushed to the bench to give us the edge we needed and the Warriors scored! Owen Holloway, Jake Heinbuch and Jared Gould were all close in play and with persistence got the puck in the net to tie the game up. Great team work to tie a tough team!
We look forward to our next outing at the University of Guelph where we know our Warriors will work hard in the upcoming Tournament.