Hishons Custom Novice Tier 1 Warriors had a nail-biting semi-final
finish in the West London Byron Optimist Competitive Tournament in London.
On Friday, January 30, the Warriors played against the Vaughn Rangers. The Rangers opened the scoring in the first despite the aggressive fore-checking by the Warriors. In the second, Quinn Appel answered back with an assist from Ryan Haines but Vaughn scored again. In the third, both teams scored again. The Warriors goal was scored by Owen Gaylor, assisted by Quinn Appel and Ryan Haines. The Warriors lost 3-2. Kaleb Martin was aggressively defending the front of the net and Marek Carter stopped a shot and back-checked really well. It was an exciting start to the tournament.
The Warriors won their second game 5-0 against the Dearborn Cobras. Nathan Gibb opened the scoring in the second with an unassisted goal. Isaac Nickel added a second, assisted by Gabe Emms and Brett Knechtel. In the third, the Warriors added three more goals, cementing the win. Goals were scored by Ryan Haines (assisted by Isaac Nickel and Daniel Rusen-Steele), Mark Pyzowski (assisted by Isaac Nickel and Noah Roth) and Quinn Appel (assisted by Ryan Haines and Colton Kuepfer). Colton Kuepfer also was tough on the blue line and back-checked with speed. Josh Duiker played excellent in net to secure a shut-out.
Our third game registered another win, 4-0, against the Burlington Bulldogs. In the first period, Isaac Nickel opened the scoring, assisted by Mark Pyzowski. There was no scoring in the second period but lots of intensity and chances in both ends. In the third, the Warriors fought for 3 goals. Brett Knechtel scored first, assisted from Isaac Nickel. Owen Gaylor then scored a power play goal, assisted by Quinn Appel. The goals were rounded out by Ryan Haines, assisted by Isaac Nickel and Quinn Appel. Jesse Merkel made many key saves to secure a shut-out. Daniel Rusen-Steele was tough on the boards and Kaleb Martin was passing well.
In the semi-final game, we once again faced the Vaughn Rangers. Vaughn scored in the first period despite the Warriors playing aggressively. In the second period, Mark Pyzowski answered back with an unassisted goal but Vaughn had a goal as well. It was 2-1 for Vaughn going into the third period. There was lots of action in both ends of the ice. In the third, Quinn Appel scored, assisted by Isaac Nickel and Nathan Gibb to tie it up. Unfortunately, Vaughn scored yet again to move ahead. With 1:58 left in the third, Owen Gaylor scored a bullet, assisted by Isaac Nickel and Ryan Haines, to tie the game! Eric Haynes played excellent all game by strongly holding the blue line and taking pucks away from offensive players. A five minute overtime was next. The Warriors twice had a loose puck in the crease but they could not capitalize on it. The game moved to a shoot-out. Isaac Nickel unfortunately had his shot saved but so did the Vaughn player. Then, Ryan Haines had a shot saved by the Vaughn goalie but the Vaughn forward deked and scored a goal. Unfortunately, the shot by Quinn Appel was also saved, resulting in a 4-3 loss to Vaughn. It was an excellent and exciting game right to very end!
The Warriors had a great tournament. The team played aggressively, passed well, had excellent goaltending and worked as a team.