Casen deGraaf recorded a hat trick and picked up an assist as the Tier III West Warriors, sponsored by Hockey Training Above, defeated the North London Nationals 5-1, March 8 to move into second overall in the playdown round.
Noah Brosens got the start and stood tall early as the teams battled to a scoreless draw in the first. It was 0-0 until Colston Kibedi banked the puck off the boards up to Nolan Miller and he raced up ice deked the defenders and fired on net. deGraaf, positioned at the faceoff dot, picked up the rebound and backhanded it over the goalie to open the scoring with 7:38 remaining in the second period.
The Nationals snuck one in to tie it up midway through the second and it seemed to fire up the Warriors.
Owen Hunt made a smart move to intercept a shot on net and he found Harrison Robinet who fed deGraaf. He carried up ice and found Nolan Miller at the blueline. Miller fired on net surprising the netminder for a 2-1 lead.
Early in the third, Owen Chambers was finally rewarded when the puck trickled between the legs of the goalie after a brilliant end to end rush. A minute later Miller won the draw at the Warriors blueline and the puck squirted over to deGraaf. As he was falling down at centre ice he spun and fired it up ice. It fooled the goalie giving the Warriors a 4-1 advantage with 10 minutes to go.
Reed Bowles made several great saves during back to back penalties late in the third.
With 27 seconds to go Robinet made a sweet pass to Miller out front. The rebound squirted over to deGraaf and he made no mistake on his third of the night to seal the 5-1 win.
It was a big win as it moved the Warriors up to second overall after they picked up two crucial points with a 4-3 victory over the London Bandits, March 6.
Nolan Miller scored twice and Rylan DeBoeck picked up two assists to lead the way offensively.
The Bandits got on the board first on a low seeing eye shot from the point, but it was short lived. Moments later, DeBoeck found
Casen deGraaf along the boards in the defensive zone and he fed Miller who raced up ice and fought through the defenders before ripping it far side high over the glove of the Bandits netminder.
Forty seconds later, deGraaf intercepted along the boards in the offensive zone and slid it to Miller. He backhanded the puck towards the net and it hit the defender's stick and went up and over the goalie and into the net for a 2-1 lead.
Early in the second, Colten Brenzil won the faceoff and raced up ice on a breakaway. His shot was stopped however Ryan Cassone was there to tap it home for a 3-1 lead with 8:51 left in the second period.
Reed Bowles got the start and made some great saves on wraparound attempts killing off a penalty late in the first period.
The Bandits scored two minutes later however DeBoeck intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and raced away on a breakaway. His shot was denied but Owen Blain flipped the rebound into the top of the net with 1:20 left in the second for a 4-2 cushion.
The Bandits scored a power play goal midway through the third to make it 4-3 but Brosens made a brilliant toe save and eight others in the third to preserve the win.
On March 5, Brosens made several great saves as the Warriors held the potent West London Hawks 4 squad to one goal midway through the game. Unfortunately a bad penalty changed the momentum. The Hawks scored on the power play and then added two more quick ones, the first on a three man breakaway. They added three in the third to walk away with a 7-0 victory. The Warriors managed 12 shots but they gave up 25 in the loss.
The Warriors are back in action March 12 when they travel to London to face the West London Hawks 3 before hosting the Oakridge Aeros March 13 at the Allman Arena at 2:30 p.m. They are one point up with a game in hand over Sarnia and will need to secure two points to guarantee home ice advantage in the next round.
Submitted by Elaine Pennington