The Stratford ‘Scotiabank’ Peewee Warriors continued the hot
start to their season by posting back to back wins over the weekend. A
convincing 6-1 win against North London on Saturday was followed by a hard
fought 3-1 road victory in Hamilton on Sunday.
Saturday’s contest was the Warriors third game of the season. A slow start and some early penalty troubles saw Stratford fall behind 1-0 halfway through the opening frame. Perseverance and a good work ethic propelled the Warriors to battle back in the middle frame, eventually taking a 4-1 lead into the final period. Stratford kept up with an aggressive fore check and did not concede any ice in their own zone, it was strong defense and a balanced attack, allowing them to extend the lead to 6-1 and secure their second victory of the season. Goal scorers in the game were Eric Gibb and Michael Messerschmidt with two each, and singles added by Carter Lewis and Max Britton. Mitch Watt was steady in goal and the defense did an excellent job breaking out of their zone throughout the game.
Sunday was the second game in a back-to-back weekend, and it was the Warriors first road game of the season. Stratford managed to score the first goal of the game – for the first time this season – and did an excellent job defending the lead. Although Hamilton drew even at 1 in the second period, it was Stratford who were able to find legs in the third period and pick up the victory off of an excellent rush by Ethan Hill to record his first goal of the season, Hill would add the insurance with an empty netter shortly after, and it was Michael Messerschmidt who opened the scoring for Stratford. Danny Pacheco picked up the win in goal for the Warriors, who improved their record to 3-0-1 to start the 2012-2013 season.