submitted by Super-Fan Todd Nickel.
The Jeffrey Custom Masonry Minor Bantam MD Warriors had a nice
run at the Amesbury Winter Classic Tournament on the weekend finishing first
overall in pool play before losing in the semifinal to eventual champion
Michigan Ice Hawks.
The Warriors opened the tournament with a 5-2 victory over the host Amesbury Hawks. Amesbury took and early lead, but the Warriors rebounded with 5 unanswered goals to secure the victory. Keegan Riehl, in a yeoman-like effort, paced the attack with 4 goals including the rare natural hatrick. Owen Duiker recorded the other Stratford goal. Assists on the day went to Zach Freeland (2), Ethan Boersma (2), James Koch, Jackson Nickel, Spencer Eidt, Maddox Keller and Duiker. Daley Trainor was solid in net for the Warriors while Josh Rogers and Alex Franke battled hard in the defensive zone.
Next the Warriors took down the Scarborough Ice Raiders 5-0. A strong forecheck and great defensive play allowed Stratford to dictate the play in this contest. Brock Barclay recorded the shutout with a fantastic game. Riehl was once again a force recording 2 more goals with single markers going to Brody Jeffrey, Carter Stock and Freeland. Assists went to Jacob Bossence, Duiker, Koch, Nickel, Freeland and Stock. Boersma was strong in the faceoff circle, while Eidt kept things calm in the defensive end.
In their final game of pool play, the Warriors earned a hard fought 3-1 victory over the Humber Valley Ice Sharks. Humber Valley got out to an early 1-0 lead in the first, but Colton Cowan would pull the Warriors even before the end of the frame. Sigl drew the lone assist. Late in the second period, Cowan struck again, on a nice tip of a point shot from Nickel, to put the Warriors in front. Play was back and forth for most of the third period until Freeland would seal the victory with an empty net goal on a great individual effort. Barclay once again played well between the pipes. Stock was impressive along the boards and paid for it taking a couple nasty hits, while Keller was a stalwart in his own end.
Stratford’s undefeated recorded gave them first place in their pool and a bye to the semifinal, where they would face hotel-rival Michigan. The Ice Hawks took a 1-0 lead on a powerplay midway through the first and would not look back sending the Warriors home with a tough 2-0 loss. The Warriors got into penalty trouble early and often in this match which kept them on their heels and didn’t allow the offensive much time to generate scoring chances. As Stratford best penalty killer, Trainor made several highlight reel saves to keep the Warriors in the game. Stratford buzzed around the Michigan net in the opening minute of the third looking to tie things up, but were thwarted by the Hawks netminder. Moments later Duiker broke in alone and hit the post after a nice deke. Michigan would grab an insurance goal with 7 minutes remaining to cement the win. The Warriors battled hard until the final buzzer, but it just wasn’t their day. Bossence and Jeffrey were beasts in front of the net when not killing penalties and Franke played a great game on defense.
Coach Steve Eidt summed up the weekend well, when he commented to his squad “We may not be the most skilled bunch of hockey players, but by golly, I’d take you Jeffery Custom Warriors to war with me anytime”.
The Warriors will look to build on this solid showing as they head into the playoffs next week against Woodstock.