Written by Dave Graff. The SMHA
Scotiabank Major Peewee Rep team travelled to Toronto on the weekend to
participate in the Toronto Aeros annual Winter Classic tournament and came home
with the championship trophy and gold medals around their necks, beating the
Scarbourgh Ice Raiders 3-2 in the championship game.
Avenging an earlier round robin loss to Scarbourgh and a hot Ice Raider goalie, the Warriors pounced early in championship game when defenseman Jack Whitehead intercepted a neutral zone pass, crossed the Ice Raider blue line and buried a long wrist shot to give Stratford a 1-0 lead. After Caleb Musselman converted a great three way passing play with Carter Musselman and Zach Carman to put the Warriors up 2-0 early in the second, Scarbourgh scored on a goal mouth scramble late in period two to pull within a goal entering the third period. Stratford continued to carry the bulk of the play and eventually Josh Nixon scored what turned out to be the game winner off an Erik Smith rebound with Braydon Tinning also assisting. After an Ice Raider tally with just inside a minute to play the Warriors were able to kill off the remaining time and claim the championship with the 3-2 victory. Tallyn Soper stopped 12 Scarbourgh shots for the victory.
Earlier Sunday the Warriors got a strong effort throughout the lineup, disposing of the host Toronto Aeros 6-0 in the semi finals. Soper stopped eight shots for the shutout while Nixon and Carter Musselman had two goals each and Maverick Mulder and Owen Gemmell one a piece. Tinning, Smith and Calaen Trupp had two assists each while Mulder, Nathan Graff, Whitehead and Carman had one each.
Stratford started the round robin on Friday with a 5-1 win over Providence, RI. Smith, Gemmell, Ethan Aarts, Carter Musselman and Caleb Musselman scored for the winners with Nixon, Tinning, Sydnie Miller, Whitehead, Carman, Mulder, Gemmell and Carter Musselman picking up assists.
Later Friday the Warriors scored an easy 8-1 win over the Chicago Jets. Carter Musselman led the way offensively with a hat trick while Nixon, Miller, Whitehead, Caleb Musselman and Tinning added one each. Carman, Mulder, Smith and Aarts had two helpers each while Whitehead, Tinning, Graff and Trupp had one each.
Stratford started out Saturday play with a 6-4 loss to Scarbourgh despite outshooting the Ice Raiders 33-15. The winners broke a 4-4 tie with just over a minute to play and then added an empty netter to seal the deal. Carman scored twice for the Warriors while Duiker and Tinning added one goal each. Whitehead chipped in with three assists.
Later Saturday needing a win to advance to Sunday play the Warriors came out strong against Ottawa-Osgoode Romans, skating to a convincing 6-3 win. Dailey Trainor stopped 9 shots for the win in goal while Duiker, Aarts, Smith, Carter Musselman, Tinning and Nixon found the back of the net for the victors. Miller and Graff had two assists each while Aarts, Duiker, Tinning, Caleb Musselman, Carman, Smith and Trupp had one each.