Oct 11, 2016 | Jkeller | 797 views
The season begins...
Submitted by Super-fan Todd Nickel...
The Jeffrey Custom Masonry Minor Bantam MD’s opened their
season at home on Warrior Day with a 2-2 draw against the Burlington Bulldogs.
Stratford opening the scoring 3 minutes in with Jake Bossence and Carter Stock connecting on a nifty give and go. Stock made no mistake on the return feed from Bossence and buried a quick snap shot over the Burlington netminders outstretched glove to put the home squad up 1-0. Maddox Keller would draw an additional assist on the play. Stratford goalie Dailey Trainor made several highlight reel saves to preserve the shutout until the final minute of the second period when Burlington would capitalize on a defensive breakdown in the Warrior end and knot the game at one. Stratford opened the third period like a team possessed, beating the Bulldogs to lose pucks and generating several quality scoring chances in the opening 5 minutes of the frame. Their persistence paid off at the nine minute mark when Bossence poked in a rebound after a well-placed point shot by Jackson Nickel. The Warriors would continue to carry the play for much of the third period, peppering Burlington netminder Jeff Eidt with rubber, who made save after save to keep his team in the game. Sparked by the play of their goaltender, the Bulldogs woke up and, with 2 minutes remaining, jumped on an errant Warrior pass and walked in 2 on 0. Trainor would make the initial save, but the Bulldogs would bury the rebound to pull back even with the Warriors. The teams traded scoring chances in the final minute, but the goaltenders stood strong and the game ended tied at 2. Owen Duiker played a strong game at both ends of the ice while Brody Jeffrey and Colten Cowan were relentless on the fore check all night. The Warriors will look to build on this effort as they head out for 2 straight road games next weekend The Jeffrey Custom Masonry Minor Bantam MD Warriors continued their season in Cambridge last Sunday. The Stratford squad was slow out of the gate in this contest and the Winterhawks made them pay early and often in the first period. The Warriors would come to life in the second period when Zach Freeland scored on a rebound into a yawning cage. Assists went to Spencer Eidt and Josh Rogers. And while the Warriors would generate several more quality scoring chances while goaltender Brock Barclay held Cambridge scoreless for the final period and a half, the early damage was unsurmountable and Stratford would fall to 0-1-1 on the season. Looking for a spark in their 3rd regular season game Saturday, the Jeffrey Custom Masonry Minor Bantam MD Warriors travelled to St. Catharines on Saturday, but ran into a hungry team and a hot goalie losing 2-1 in a tough road tilt. Another slow start would find the Warriors down 1-0 early in the first. Trying to provide his mates with that spark, Stratford netminder Dailey Trainor would turn aside a flurry of first period scoring chances by the Hurricanes to keep the Warriors in the contest. Stratford played most of the second period shorthanded and while the penalty kill was strong, Trainor again came up big to keep the Warriors within one. The Tribe came to life early in the third period and, while on a powerplay of their own, the Warriors would capitalize after some excellent puck movement. James Koch found Keegan Reihl who one timed a pass to a wide open Ethan Boersma at the side of the net. Boersma would make no mistake and the Warriors pulled even with 10 minutes to go. The teams would trade chances throughout the third period, until with 4 minutes remaining, Warrior Rocco Sigl found himself all alone in front the St. Catharines net with a glorious chance to give the Warriors the lead. The Hurricane netminder stoned Sigl on a point blank shot. This save provided the home team a lift and, on the ensuing drive up the ice, St. Catharines would finally solve Trainor a second time to take the lead. The Warriors battled hard to pull even in the final minutes but were unable to crack the strong defensive trap employed by the Hurricanes as the game came to a close. Alex Franke battled hard all game on defense for the Warriors who will look to right the ship on Wednesday at home against Woodstock.