The Tier 1 Stratford Warriors defeat Sarnia in their semi-final match up!
The Hishon Custom Novice Tier 1 Stratford Warriors faced off against the Sarnia Jr Sting in a 4 point semi final series. Game one took place in Sarnia on March 19th. Goal tenders Aidan Hill and Brenden Sippel shared the duties in net and both came up with some key saves to keep their team in the game. The first period was scoreless with both teams going end to end with relentless pressure. Early in the second period Sarnia slid one in to take the lead, followed by a second one to end the period. Nathan Siebert finally put the Warriors on the board with a beauty of a goal, assisted by Cody Bach. Sarnia nabbed a power play goal to take a 4-1 lead. Colin Slattery scored on a wrap around, assisted by Colin Schultz to cut lead in half. Despite some big pressure to end the game, Sarnia took game one 4-2.
Game two went down at the Allman on Sunday afternoon and it was a barn burner! Sarnia struck first but Dawson White answered back, assisted by Cody Bach to tie the game at one a piece. Sarnia nabbed another goal but again the Warriors answered back with a goal from Carter Petrie, assisted by Aaron Green and Rylan Hall. Mid-way through the second Sarnia scored to again take the lead 3-2. Grady Murphy netted one for Stratford to tie the game for a third time! With the minutes winding down goalie Aidan Hill was rock solid between the pipes to lead his team into overtime. At the half way point in the overtime period Green sent a beauty pass up the boards to Petrie who fired puck into the back of the net to keep the Warriors hopes alive and force a third game!
Monday night the Warriors hit the road for the deciding tilt against Sarnia. Early in the first Colin Slattery ripped one past the Sarnia netminder, assisted by Petrie and Schultz to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. In the second period the Warriors nabbed a second goal from Slattery, assisted by Petrie to double their lead 2-0. Sarnia answered back to cut that lead in half 2-1. In the third period big defense from Austin Musselman and Blake Hodgson kept the Sarnia attack at bay, while Blair Stokes and Ryan Gansevles created scoring opportunities. Mid-way through the third Lukas Steele netted another one for the Warriors, assisted by Murphy to move Stratford up 3-1. Slattery then went unassisted for the hattrick, making it 4-1! The Warriors ended the game with another goal from Slattery, assisted by Green to skate away with a decisive 5-1 victory! Goal tender Aidan Hill was outstanding in the cage!
The Warriors now face the London Bandits in the West Finals and have earned a berth to Provincials in April! Well done Tier 1 Warriors!