February 9th
vs London Mustangs Purple – Playoff Game #1
The Meadows’s
trumpets were out in full force to cheer on the Hiller Realty Minor Peewee Rep.
Stratford Warriors on Thursday evening.
The Warriors were looking sharp in the first period. Early shots were fired on the Mustangs net and most of the period was spent in their end. The first Mustangs shot on our goalie, Lucas Jacklin, wasn’t until halfway through the period. Jacklin faced it with ease and was making strong glove saves throughout the entire game. Hayden White-Roy, Aidan Benton and Cole Meadows were passing the puck well and doing an excellent job of putting pressure on London. Avery Thurston and Thomas Sheldon were making great defensive plays. The first penalty of the game saw the Warriors down a man. The Mustangs scored to make the game 1-0.
Jacklin continued the glove saves and made an acrobatic diving move to cover the other side of the net on a rebound out to an open Mustang. The Mustangs kept on shooting and got one in to make it 2-0. Soon after the Warriors got a powerplay. Luke Heisz had some good shots on net and continued through the game to keep putting it to the net. Wes Duiker was quick on defense to break up plays but also kept peppering them from the point but this goalie wasn’t letting anything in. With 25 seconds left in the penalty, Stratford got one as well. We got another penalty when the Mustangs got to full strength to make it 3 on 5 hockey. Colton Gibson fought hard at the boards and was winning battles to keep us in the game. We got back down to a 3 on 5 but the Warriors defense was tight and Jacklin kept using his glove like a Kevin Pillar on skates.
The third period started with 54 seconds remaining on the Warriors 4th penalty of the game. They were 3 for 4 on the penalty kill even when down by 2 men. The score remained 2-0. Benton, White-Roy and Meadows continued to keep pressure on the Mustangs goalie. Luke Zorgdrager was making shots from the point and working hard defensively to keep this a close game. The Warriors got their first power play with only a few minutes left in the game. Sheldon, Gibson and Zorgdrager all were going hard to move the puck and get us on the board. The Mustangs killed the penalty. Kaden Brame got the puck from Jake Heinbuch and Meadows and shot it in! With 1:12 left it was suddenly a 1 goal game. A time out was called, our goalie was pulled and fans screamed loudly. Trumpets were blaring and some fans thought they could hear a duck from somewhere cheering. Thurston stopped a few pucks heading into our empty net to give us a final chance. The team didn’t give up but lost in the end with a score of 2-1.
February 11th - Playoff Game #2 vs Mustangs Purple
The first period began with a lot of back and forth play between the ends. Kiefer MacNeil was in net for the Warriors. Jake Heinbuch had one of the first shots against the Mustangs trying to get us an early lead. Danny Van Straaten made a hard shot on net. It rebounded out to Thomas Sheldon who blocked it and got it back toward the net. Owen Holloway had a shot but the Mustang’s goalie stopped it. With 4 minutes left in the period the Mustangs scored to make it 1-0.
The Warriors tied it up early in the second period! Holloway had a crossbar shot off a good face off play and it went in. MacNeil made an excellent save to keep it tied. Aidan Benton made a nice play to get it to Hayden White-Roy who took a shot. White-Roy was having a great game and skating hard to move the puck down the ice. The Warriors got on a power play and Holloway had another good scoring chance. Soon after the Mustangs got a power play that Avery Thurston, Benton and Sheldon killed off well. Mustangs scored again to make it 2-1. A body contact penalty was called on London and we got on the power play to end the second. Wes Duiker had a hard point shot on a pass from Cole Meadows.
The third started with the Warriors still on the power play. Then fortunes reversed and Stratford was in the box. MacNeil made a great save and Benton had a hard shot on net shorthanded. Jared Gould made some sharp passes to Sam Jeffrey who had 2 good chances on net. The Mustangs got a penalty and Stratford had a strong chance for 2 minutes to tie it up. They worked hard but couldn’t get one past that Mustangs goalie. Unfortunately the Mustangs came out hard after the penalty was killed and scored again to make it 3-1. Another power play for the Warriors but the game ended 3-1.
February 12th - Playoff Game #3 vs Mustangs Purple
The Hiller Realty Minor Peewee Rep Warriors travelled to London for a do or die game in their playoff series. The Warriors came out all business and the puck stayed mostly down in the Mustangs end. Lucas Jacklin had to wait many minutes to show off his mad skills. Owen Holloway got the puck over to Kaden Brame who shot on the net. The rebound went out to Danny Van Straaten who did a spinning move and got it top shelf. The Warriors were up 1-0! About 10 seconds later Van Straaten shot it on net and the rebound this time went out to Brame who shot it in. Great teamwork was going to be the key to beating London and the Warriors knew it. Score was now 2-0. The first penalty of the game got called against the Mustangs. Colton Gibson worked hard to move the puck down the ice. The Mustangs killed the penalty and ended the period.
Jared Gould started the second period off with an exciting shot off the crossbar. The Warriors got on a power play again but this was short lived when we also got a penalty. Owen Holloway made one of his signature 1 on 4 rushes into the other end and scored! The Warriors were winning 3-0. Jacklin, after facing sparse shots in the first, was really put to the test in the second. He passed with flying colours and kept the lead for us. We got on another power play and the puck went flying into our own bench making some hearts race. Gould had 2 great shots on the Mustangs net. Luke Heisz and Luke Zorgdrager were sending shots from the point. The Mustangs got one in to make it 3-1. Jacklin had a huge gliding save during a penalty kill to end the period.
The first few minutes of the third period saw Stratford short handed. Despite this they put good offensive pressure on London. Jacklin was having save after save. Another Warriors penalty resulted in a Mustangs goal to make it 3-2. Sam Jeffrey scored to bring us back the 2 point lead with assists going to Gould and the mysterious #86. Zorgdrager was helping his goalie with nice defensive moves. They scored again and fans were holding their breath for the last 2 minutes of the game. A loose puck in front of the net had us all yelling. Brame calmed us all down with an empty netter with 53.8 seconds left in the game to end it 5-3. The team and fans went wild for a few minutes and then started to plan for our next meeting on Saturday in Stratford. Great game Warriors!