Submitted by MD Journalist Todd Nickel
The Jeffrey Custom Masonry Minor Bantam MD
Warriors had a nice start to their playoff run with consecutive victories this
week.
On Monday in Woodstock, the Warriors were on the road up against a Navy Vets team who was riding a 3 game unbeaten streak. Undaunted by their opponents earlier successes, the Warriors played a gritty game and were able to grind out a 2-1 victory. Woodstock would get on the board first near the midway point of the opening frame, but the Warriors would answer in the closing seconds of the period when Owen Duiker found a wide open Colten Cowan at the side of the Navy Vets net. Cowan buried the one-timer to pull the Warriors even. The game remained tied until the 9 minute mark of the third period when Duiker scored on a nifty move to give the Warriors a lead they would not relinquish. Cowan and Rocco Sigl drew assists on the goal. Warrior goaltender Dailey Trainor came up huge throughout game, most notably in the third period when Stratford ran into penalty trouble. Facing a 5 on 3 penalty call for a full 2 minutes with under 4 minutes left in the game, the Warriors league best penalty kill came up huge to preserve the victory. Forwards Carter Stock and Brody Jeffrey worked well down low all game frustrating the Woodstock defenders, while defensemen Maddox Keller and James Koch were instrumental on the penalty kill.
Looking to keep the train rolling, the Warriors would face Burlington at home Sunday and came away with a convincing 3-0 win. Brock Barclay played a magnificent game between the pipes, making several acrobatic saves to earn the shutout. The Warriors put pressure on the Bulldogs early in this contest and were rewarded when Colten Cowan forced a turnover deep in the Burlington end and worked the puck to Owen Duiker who blasted a wrist shot over the glove hand of the Burlington netminder. Stratford would strike again before the end of the first period when Keegan Reihl would bury a rebound on a well placed point shot from Spencer Eidt. Ethan Boersma would also draw an assist. Burlington stepped up their play in the second period, but the Warriors were equal to the task and connected for an insurance goal when defenceman Jackson Nickel held the line and moved the puck down low to Zach Freeland who beat a Burlington defender and made a nice cross crease pass to Colten Cowan who made no mistake in finding the back of the net. The Warriors locked it down defensively in the third period keeping Burlington pinned in their own end for most of the frame. Barclay would turn away a breakaway in the final minute to preserve the shutout. Jacob Bossence and Josh Rogers gave Burlington fits along the boards all game, while Alex Franke was a linchpin on defence.