This past weekend the SMHA U18 team participated in the OHF Championships in New Hamburg.
The SMHA U18 Warriors battled hard all weekend to emerge victorious in TRIPLE OVERTIME. SMHA would like to congratulate all of the players and the staff of Head Coach Chad Smalley, Assistant Coaches Scott Frayne & Brian Nigro, Trainer Brett Maguire & Manager Scott Seibert.
After dropping their first two games at the Ontario Hockey Federation single-A tournament, the Alliance winners reeled off four straight wins, capped by a triple-overtime victory over St. Thomas in the final. “It’s hard to describe. It’s unbelievable,” head coach Chad Smalley said. “A lot of hard work goes into this. I gotta give the boys credit and coaching staff. We worked really hard, and the boys bought into the program we were trying to sell, and they executed it perfectly.”
Making it to provincials was the season-long goal for Stratford, which earned a spot after beating Woodstock in a six-point series. “Once you win the league title, it gets in your blood and you can feel it coming,” Smalley said. “The kids get energized and start really believing they have a chance.”
The Jr. Warriors’ belief was tested early after a pair of losses in New Hamburg. Stratford, after scoring twice to take the lead in the third period of the opener against St. Thomas, allowed two power-play goals late in a 5-4 loss. The Stars buried the winner with 23 seconds left. A 4-1 loss to the host Firebirds meant there was no room for error. “The kids bounced back and responded when we needed to step up here,” Smalley said. “They got better every game.”
Stratford started its run with a 4-1 win over Porcupine. Dawson White, Blake Hodgson, Rylan DeBoeck and Taten Mikel scored in the victory. Jr. Warriors’ captain Nathan Siebert had a goal and assist in a 3-0 win over Hearst. DeBoeck and Colin Schultz also scored, and Colton Thomson made 20 saves.
Jordan Keane scored twice in Stratford’s 4-0 semifinal win over Porcupine. Schultz and Cayden Bourassa added single markers, and Mikel, Joshua Goodhue and Charles Holloway all had two helpers. Thomson, a preseason addition from Woodstock, stopped 22 shots for his second straight shutout. “He’s a huge part of the team,” Smalley said.
Stratford tightened up in the championship and shut down the Stars’ top scorer in a 3-2 win. Hodgson, on the power play, and Hudson Gordon, with his first of the tourney, scored in regulation in front of a crowd that “felt like home for us,” Smalley said. After two scoreless overtime periods, Siebert scored 40 seconds into the third OT on a shot from between the circle and goal line that snuck behind the Stars goalie. “I saw it go in, and to be honest it took two or three seconds to realize what happened,” Smalley said. “It’s pure emotion on the bench. We were all crying and hugging each other. It’s a great feeling. It’s surreal.”
And it happened because the Jr. Warriors never wavered in their belief. “Once they started believing, they understood,” Smalley said. “We kept it positive in the room. Mistakes will happen, but overtime comes and you put it on net … and see what happens. “It couldn’t be more fitting for the captain in his last minor hockey game to get the goal.”
Courtesy of The Stratford Beacon Herald