The Stratford Hockey Training Above Novice Tier 3 Warriors competed in the Bradford Bulldogs tournament this weekend and came away with a final four finish.
In the first game of the tournament the boys faced off against the Quinte West Hawks. With Brenden Sippel and Aidan Hill sharing the duties in net, the Hawks had difficulty getting one past them. The Warriors had strong offensive pressure throughout the game with Grady Murphy and Nathan Siebert digging hard on forward. After a scoreless first, Colin Slattery put the Warriors on the board early in the second. Carter Petrie added a second goal to finish the second period. With the Warriors on the power play early in the third Liam Ollson nabbed a sweet goal to put the icing on the cake. The Warriors won 3-0.
In their second game of the day the Warriors were up against a big Etobicoke team. Once again, Sippel and Hill shared the duties in net and were effective in frustrating the Bulldogs. Rylan Hall put strong pressure in the corners and Aaron Green worked the blue line to keep that pressure on. Sniper Colin Slattery went bar down mid-way through the second to give Stratford a 1-0 lead. Dawson White and Sam Binns had some strong passes to keep the Bulldogs off the boards.
With Etobicoke looking for a goal to tie it, Austin Musselman and Cody Bach kept the play out of the Warrior end. Carter Petrie nabbed an empty netter for the insurance goal and the Warriors walked away with a 2-0 victory.
The third game of the tournament saw the Warriors take on Cooksville in a heated game. The game was scoreless after one and the vocal crowd was calling for more whistles to start the second. Eventually Cooksville scored 2 quick goals and left the Warriors looking for revenge. Colin Schultz walked in and scored bar down to put Stratford within one! With the Warriors needing a tie or a win to move on in the tournament they pulled together and worked hard as a team. Blair Stokes created strong scoring chances and the boys kept firing away. Finally, Petrie nabbed the tying goal and the Warriors found themselves back in it. Frustration took over for some and one Cooksville fan was shown the door by a ref who had had enough. The 2-2 tie was enough to give Stratford a spot in the semi-final.
In the semi-final game the boys were up against a tough Clarkson Hurricane team. Knowing Clarkson had only allowed one goal thus far in the tournament the Warriors had their work cut out for them. Both Sippel and Hill were tested throughout the match and both came up with some strong saves at key times. At the beginning of the second the Warriors found themselves down by 3 goals when Colin Slattery won the draw and put Stratford on the board. Clarkson answered back twice to make it 5-1, but Slattery had one more in him and grabbed his second goal to make it 5-2.
The Warriors are to be commended for a top four finish, a silver medal and 2 gold medals in all tournament play this season!