written by Trevor Trainor
On Monday night, the Hiller Realty Minor Peewee Rep team travelled to Waterloo with their playoff series tied at 1. Waterloo opened the scoring, before the Warriors came to life and responded with two of their own in the first period. The first Warrior goal came from Colten Cowen with assists to Braydon Tinning and Ethan Aarts and the second was scored by Erik Smith, with assists from Zach Carman and Aarts. The Warriors added to their lead in the second period when Tinning scored on a feed from Owen Duiker. In the third period, Waterloo came out hard, looking to get back into the game. They were rewarded early, cutting the Warriors’ lead to one, before Carter Musselman scored from the point to make it 4 - 2. Again, Waterloo responded with a goal to make it 4 - 3, before a Carman breakaway goal re-established a 2 goal lead for the Warriors. Waterloo pushed back again with a goal late in the third and pressed for the tying goal, but timely saves from goalie Dailey Trainor and tough defensive play from Nathan Graff and Owen Fraser preserved the victory for the Warriors.
Game 4 of the series was on Saturday at the Allman Arena. This game was a much more defensive contest. The Warriors had a goal disallowed in the first period and this would prove costly. Goalie Nolan Traynor was sharp throughout and turned away all Waterloo scoring chances in the first two periods. Waterloo finally broke through in the third period to score the only goal of the game. Despite hard work up front from Caleb Musselman and Carter Stock, the Warriors could not break through the Waterloo defense and the game ended in a 1-0 loss.
The 5th and final game of the series was Sunday evening in Waterloo. Waterloo opened the scoring mid-way through the first, but the Warriors responded quickly. Jack Whitehead stepped up from the point and fired a shot home to tie the game at 1. In the second period, Waterloo took control of the game, scoring 5 straight goals to take a 6 to 1 lead. The Warriors did not give up and battled hard in the third to get back in to the game. Hard forechecking from Zach Freeland and Michael Tigani up front started to wear down the Waterloo defense and led to an Erik Smith goal to make it 6 to 2. Tinning scored shortly after to make it 6 to 3. Tinning, Aarts, Duiker and Whitehead all had assists in the game. The Warriors continued to press, but time ran out time to complete the comeback and lost the playoff series 3 to 2.