A. J. Jackson Construction Minor Atom MD
Written by: Bill Boon
The Stratford A.J. Jackson Construction Minor Atom MD Warriors reached the finals of the London SSE Wild tournament this past weekend. The Warriors opened pool play with a convincing 6-1 win over the Richmond Hill Kings. Andrew Ivey led the way with two goals with Ryan Lott, Austin Taylor, Jake Emerson and Tyler Hotson chipping in single tallies.
The Warriors defeated the London Bandits 2-0 in their second game of the tournament. Dominic Boon scored the game winner with two minutes left in the third period with Ryan Lott and Brett Maguire picking up the assists. Tyler Hotson added an empty net marker to seal the win. Warrior goalie Liam McCann picked up the shutout
In the third game of the tournament the Warriors faced off against the Markham Waxers to decide first place in pool play. Stratford fell behind 3-1 after two periods with Austin Taylor scoring on a penalty shot. The Warriors proved to be a third period team once again and scored three unanswered goals to defeat Markham 4-3. Tyler Hotson started the comeback scoring the second Warrior goal with assists to Boon and Maguire. Josh Smith tied the game with line mates Keagan Goforth and Emerson assisting on the goal. Stratford scored the game winner on a powerplay with less than two minutes left in the game on a goal from Austin Taylor with Boon and Hotson picking up the assists. Defencemen Isaac Lobsinger, Eric Van Nes, Mac Starkebaum, Kobe Robinson, Josh Bossence and Kiran Wotherspoon all turned in solid defensive games to preserve the win.
Stratford advanced to the championship game against the same Markham team and was defeated 2-0. The entire Warrior team turned in a terrific effort but couldn’t beat the Markham goalie. Forward Brett Maguire hit the goalpost on a great solo effort to try to break the shutout, but time ran out on their championship run.