The Evoke Marketing Tier I Warriors saw their season come to a close on the weekend.Heading into the playdown round the Warriors knew that they were in a tough battle playing the first place West London Hawks.
On March 18 they traveled to London for game one short two players due to March break, one due to illness. Nolan Miller took part in the pregame warm-up but hasn't been cleared for games as he continues to recover from the injury he suffered in September.
Reed Bowles got the start for the Warriors and was tested early and often but the Warriors held the Hawks off the scoresheet in the first and took advantage of a power play opportunity late in the frame as Colston Kibedi rushed up ice before dishing it across to Owen Blain who fired it top shelf for a 1-0 lead with 37 seconds left in the first.
The Hawks answered back early in the second before the Warriors again capitalized on a power play opportunity. Blain recorded his second after the setup by Charlie Holloway and Rylan DeBoeck. Unfortunately the Hawks feeling the heat turned it up another notch. They tied it a minute later as Beckham Edwards netted his first of four. He gave the home side the lead just over two minutes later as they held a 3-2 lead after two periods. Unfortunately the powerhouse Hawks added six in the third and walked away with a 9-2 victory.
On March 19 the teams faced off at the Allman Arena with the Warriors' season on the line. For the first time since the first game of the Richmond Hill tournament, they had the full team on the ice for the warm up.
Noah Brosens got the start and made several great stops. The defenders made several great blocks to keep it close but the Hawks managed a 2-0 lead after the first and added two more in 40 seconds late in the second to take a 4-0 lead and held a 15-5 shot advantage.
They added a power play tally early in the third and made it 6-0 with a shorthanded marker late. The Warriors dented the twine late after Kibedi started a rush and then dished across to Blain and he saw Mark Martin on the far boards. He fired on net and Blain jumped on the rebound and buried it just as the power play ended. Unfortunately that was all the Warriors were able to convert and the Hawks won 6-1. They move on to face the winner of the Sarnia versus London Bandits series.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations to each of the Tier I Warriors on a great season including the goaltenders Noah Brosens and Reed Bowles; the defenders Owen Chambers, Casen deGraaf, Colston Kibedi, Owen Hunt and Cameron Parsons; and the forwards Colten Brenzil, Rylan DeBoeck, Cole Hishon, Owen Blain, Ryan Cassone, Taten Mikel, Owen Bridges, Mark Martin and Charlie Holloway. A special congratulations to forward Nolan Miller who fought hard all season to get back on the ice as soon as possible. In the meantime he was the team's biggest inspiration all year but especially when he was given the okay to participate in the pregame skate.
The team finished the regular season and the playoff round in fourth overall but found its most success at tournaments. The Warriors finished first in pool play but ran into a hot goaltender and lost 3-2 in a shootout in the Richmond Hill Early Bird tournament semifinal back in September. The team then captured gold at the Dave Clarke Memorial Novice tournament in October with a thrilling 1-0 shootout victory over Ingersoll. The team took part in the Wayne Gretzky International tournament in December but were unable to advance to the playoff round. They wrapped up tournament play by erasing a two goal deficit in the third period to defeat the Oakridge Aeros 4-3 in overtime of the championship game at the Preston Invitational tourney in January.
Submitted by Elaine Pennington