For the Scotiabank Major Peewee Rep Warriors, the recipe for
success
was simple. Score one early,
score one late, and penalty kill like crazy
in between.
Adding to that just the right amount of desperate hockey, the Warriors came away with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the visiting London Bandits on Thursday night. The win gave Stratford a four games to one edge in the series and earned them the Alliance Bristol “A” Playdown Championship. The Warriors wasted no time getting on the board as Michael Cossey and Brody Hunt broke in on a two on one off of the opening draw. Cossey made a nice feed through the defenseman and Hunt put the Warriors ahead only twenty-nine seconds into the game. Stratford then played some of their most challenged hockey in the playoffs, finding themselves constantly hemmed in their own end by the determined Bandits team. London evened the score on the power play at the start of the second period, but early in the third a hard dump-in by Tyreese Harrison off of the end boards was misplayed by the goalie and defenseman, allowing Hunt to speed in and find the mark to make the score 2-1. Part way through the third period goaltender Justin Hergott made a huge save as he spun around to glove the puck mid-air from going in after it deflected up and over his head. But London evened the score again on the power-play with only 1:25 remaining. Facing the possibility of another trip to London, the Warriors finally got desperate. On the ensuing face-off, Stratford carried the puck into the London zone controlling the play with several key saves at the blue-line. Minor Peewee call-up Sean Chisholm then made a great second effort behind the net as he dove for the puck and somehow managed to send it out front to Nathan Hall who scored the game and series winner with only 1.3 seconds left on the clock. After one more puck drop at centre ice, the Warriors poured onto the ice to celebrate their victory. The entire team and coaching staff contributed to an amazing playoff run that saw them post a 10-1 record. They also congratulate the London Bandits on a hard fought series in which every single game could have gone either way. The Warriors will now travel to Mississauga April 13-15 to represent the Alliance in the Ontario Hockey Federation Championships.