The Hiller Realty Minor Peewee Rep team was
scheduled for two games against the undefeated Burlington Bulldogs White this
weekend.
The Saturday home game saw Lucas Jacklin in net for the Warriors. Cole Meadows was working hard by the boards in the first period to generate a scoring chance that was stopped. The Bulldogs got an early lead when their centre tapped one in out front. Jacklin made a couple of impressive saves to keep the game close but Burlington finally got a screened shot in on him to make it 2-0.
The second period started with a penalty on the Warriors. The Bulldogs scored on the power play to pull ahead by 3 goals. Luke Zorgdrager and Luke Heisz were working hard defensively to stem the tide of the Bulldogs offence but the period ended 6-0.
Kiefer MacNeil was now in the net for the Warriors. A Warriors penalty was called and the boys did a great job by not letting any shots get taken. MacNeil made some good saves. Jared Gould was skating hard and trying to create some scoring chances. He got tripped and got the Warriors on the power play. Meadows got through the Bulldogs defense to fire off a shot that was stopped. Soon after Heisz made a point shot that Meadows tipped just wide of the Bulldogs net. The final score was 8-0.
Sunday, December 18
The Hiller Realty Minor Peewee Rep team headed to Burlington to face the Bulldogs again, this time hoping for a better outcome.
The first period started and Stratford looked good. Avery Thurston swept a puck away from the net to stop a goal. Kiefer MacNeil made a great save to keep it scoreless. The game was looking much more evenly matched than yesterday’s event. Kaden Brame had a good hustle to take away a Bulldogs 2 on 1.
Stratford came out hard again in the second period of this scoreless game. Danny Van Straaten had a shot on net and then drew a penalty on Burlington. Wes Duiker was moving the puck well and took a good shot from the point that the goalie made an impressive save on. Thomas Sheldon made a quick play to get his lost stick back in time to stop a breakout. The Bulldogs took some shorthanded shots but MacNeil kept the puck out of the net. Finally one snuck by him on a rebound shot and the score was 1-0. Colton Gibson tried to get it right back with a hard shot from the point. The Warriors got a penalty and were down a man for 2 minutes. The Bulldogs scored with a point shot to make it 2-0. Jake Heinbuch took a shot after a scramble at the net. Cole Meadows got the puck to Van Straaten who made a great play to pass out front to Hayden White-Roy. White-Roy sealed the deal and the score was 2-1. Brame tried to tie it up quick before the end of the period with a good shot on net.
Aidan Benton and Sam Jeffrey were digging hard in the Burlington end to start the third period. Owen Holloway stickhandled adeptly into the Bulldogs end and fed it to Heinbuch for a good scoring chance. Jeffrey had a nice shot after intercepting the puck on a Bulldogs attempted breakaway. Luke Zorgdrager took a shot from the point that Brame tipped with his stick and fans thought for sure it was going to tie the game. But the score remained 2-1. MacNeil was put back to work as the Bulldogs skated into Warriors territory and fired off the shots. He stopped them all to keep us in the game. Benton was using his excellent speed to back check and get the puck. The fast pace of play was making many pulses race in the stands – could we take a point or even two from our weekend double header? With a minute left there was a time out called and MacNeil came off the ice. Burlington stayed strong and the final score was 2-1.