The Stratford Warriors Novice Tier III West team, sponsored by Hockey Training Above picked up two big wins on the weekend. On January 23, they travelled to London to face the Bandits 3 and came home with a hard fought 6-2 victory.
Casen deGraaf and Owen Blain led the offence scoring two goals each. Nolan Miller and Cole Hishon added singles. Assists went to Ryan Cassone with two, Harrison Robinet, Taten Mikel, Miller, Mark Martin, Rylan DeBoeck, and Colston Kibedi.
Noah Brosens set the tone early with a solid stop. After the team fell behind 1-0 after the Bandits scored on the power play, jaws dropped as Brosens made an unbelievable toe save with 1:07 left in the first. It was the spark that the Warriors needed. Early in the second, Nolan Miller and Robinet did the work in the corner and Robinet found deGraaf in the slot. He turned and fired a low shot that found the back of the net with 8:13 remaining.
Seconds later, Miller won the faceoff at centre ice, used his speed to split the defence and ripped a shot high glove side to make it 2-1. Brosens made several key stops to preserve the lead and then Reed Bowles continued the great goaltending with some great saves in the dying moments of the second.
London held a 13-11 shots advantage after two periods.
Two minutes into the third period, Owen Hunt held it in at the point and dished it down to Miller. He cut out front and using the defender as a screen, he fired a low shot. The Bandits' netminder robbed him but deGraaf banged it home for a 3-1 lead.
Cassone picked an opponent's pocket in the neutral zone and raced up ice before firing a low shot. Hishon jumped all over the rebound and shoveled it into the net for a 4-1 advantage with 11:33 left in the third.
Fourteen seconds later Owen Blain converted a sweet cross crease pass from Martin giving Stratford a commanding 5-1 lead. DeBoeck picked up the second assist.
Bowles made a beautiful save moments later but the rebound squirted out of his reach at the top of the crease. Hunt used every inch of his reach as he dove across to poke the puck into the corner.
Then Owen Chambers picked up the puck deep in the zone and headed up ice on a rush. A Bandits player collided with him and despite the fact Chambers had the puck he was sent off for interference. The Bandits scored on the power play but it was as close as they could get. Blain rounded out the scoring after Kibedi kept it in at the point and he found Cassone who took a shot and Blain was there to tap it home. The final shots were 21-21.
On January 24, the Warriors faced Oakridge in London and jumped out to an early lead. Cassone picked it up along the boards and fired on net. His shot was stopped but Hishon was there to slide it home. Cassone gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead less than 40 seconds later when he picked it up in the neutral zone, headed up ice, cut to the middle and fired a low shot that fooled the goalie. Colten Brenzil was credited with an assist.
Forty seconds later the score was 2-2 after the Aeros created two turnovers.
Late in the first, Hunt passed up to deGraaf and he fed Miller who ripped a shot high over the glove giving the visitors a 3-2 lead at the end of the first.
Early in the second, Bowles robbed the Aeros with a beautiful glove save. Kibedi was sent off for tripping but the Warriors were able to kill it off. The Aeros ran into penalty trouble of their own and it resulted in a five on three advantage for the Warriors. They capitalized off the faceoff as Hishon flipped it up in the air towards the net and Cassone picked up the rebound and banged it home for a 4-2 cushion.
deGraaf did the hard work along the boards but he was held up and Miller picked up the loose puck and fired a nifty shot that dented the twine to make it 5-2 with 6:21 left.
With Oakridge pressing, and Hunt in the box for interference, Brosens made a brilliant stick save and then jumped on the rebound. Seconds later Kibedi was sent off for body checking forcing the squad to fight off the five on three disadvantage. Seconds after killing off the first penalty Hishon picked up the puck and found Brenzil out front and he converted a beautiful shorthanded marker with 1:17 to play.
Despite the hard work of the penalty killers Oakridge broke through with 44 seconds left to make it a 6-3 final.
Both games featured several great defensive plays by Cameron Parsons.
The Warriors are back in action January 30 when they travel to Sarnia.
Submitted by Elaine Pennington