The Cherrey Bus Lines Minor Bantam Warriors won one and tied one as they played their last two games before the Alliance split. The team finished tied with Brantford and London Bandits with 20 points on an 8-5-4 record and still found themselves relegated to the A bracket on a tie breaker.
The two games pretty much epitomized the extreme range of play to this point of the season. From great highs to great lows the team had a habit of making things difficult on themselves with a frustratingly inconsistent level of play underscored by the two late game results this week.
Stratford started the week against a tough Woodstock team at home. As is often the case the Warriors found themselves down early but always seem to bounce back and this night was no exception. An energetic Dalton Smith scored two quick goals late in the first to put Stratford ahead by one. Ewen Flanagan assisted on the first while Nathan Hall and Bradley Kraemer drew helpers on the second. The Warriors expanded the lead to two goals in the second period when Jarrett Baker converted on a nice pass from Joe Yundt and Stratford headed onto the third nursing a two goal lead. Unfortunately things came apart as an energetic Navy Vet squad put the pressure on in the third and the Warriors could not hang on. Goalie Baily Paquette was very strong and turned aside many difficult shots but Woodstock did not let up, scoring twice including the tying goal with 40 seconds left to break Warrior hearts.
Stratford needed a win in their last game to advance to the AA bracket (or so it was thought) however the boys seemed to still be in shock after the disappointing end to the Woodstock game. To cut to the chase, after a pretty underwhelming performance for three periods the team found themselves down 1- 0 with seconds left in the game before creating a bit of magic themselves. The Warriors had the net empty when Yundt took a great Dillon Weinheimer feed and burst in ripping a shot home to tie the game with 36 seconds on the clock. Baker also drew an assist. After the puck dropped and more pressure, Weinheimer won the puck on the side boards and again fed Yundt who ripped his second goal home with 10 seconds left and a huge dramatic victory and celebration. Paquette was rock solid in goal.
Unfortunately an exhilarating victory later turned to disappointment when it was learned that the team was headed to the A pool with the team having to turn the page on the first part of the season.