The Stratford Warriors Tier III West team, sponsored by Hockey Training Above hosted the North London Nationals twice on the weekend and picked up three points.
On January 9, the Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the second when Colston Kibedi broke up a chance in the defensive zone and found Casen deGraaf. He passed across to Nolan Miller and he completed an end to end rush by roofing it high over the goalie. A few minutes later Ryan Cassone jammed it home during a goal mouth scramble. Colten Brenzil and Cole Hishon picked up assists.
Unfortunately, a couple of bad bounces cost the Warriors in the third period as the Nationals tied it 2-2 with a minute left. Reed Bowles and Noah Brosens both made several huge saves in the contest. The highlight was a Brosens save with the end of his stick with 12 seconds left and then sprawling to cover it up.
The forwards and defence played great two way hockey to help the team earn a tie.
On Sunday, January 10 it was an entirely different game. Mark Martin got things started early when he turned on the jets and broke down the left side before firing on net. The defender intercepted and turned to fire it around the boards but instead shocked his goalie and the puck ended up in the back of the net. Martin was credited for the goal.
Moments later Cole Hishon slipped a pass across to Ryan Cassone and he put a beautiful pass onto the stick of Brenzil. He beat the goalie five hole to give the Warriors a quick 2-0 lead. With 2:33 left in the first, Brosens used his head to knock it down and preserve the two goal lead.
A man down early in the second, deGraaf stole the puck in the offensive zone and slipped it across to Miller. Despite the fact he was falling down, he was able to get a shot away from his knees and give the Warriors a 3-0 advantage. Less than three minutes later, deGraaf scored a brilliant spin-a-rama goal while falling down to make it 4-0. Cassone got in on the action with just over a minute left in the second. Brenzil won the faceoff and Cassone picked it up and displayed his own spin-a-rama move before firing on net and making it 5-0 at the end of the second period.
Early in the third, Cassone found Hishon cutting to the net and he flicked it back across the crease just over the outstretched right leg of the goalie.
Bowles made a brilliant poke check save with just over six minutes left. Rylan DeBoeck rounded out the Warriors scoring with 1:34 remaining with an outstanding individual effort. He cut down the right side and when he was stopped up he spun and fired a low shot that found the twine at the back of the net. Bowles made another huge save with 39.3 seconds left trying to preserve the shutout bid. The Nationals continued to press for a goal and after a mad scramble the puck trickled over the line with 3.3 seconds left. It was too little too late as the Warriors won 7-1. The team's commitment to defence shut down the Nationals offence much of the game.
The Warriors travel to Bradford January 15-17 for a tournament. Regular season action continues January 19 when the squad faces the same North London Nationals in London.