Noah Rusen Steele’s five point night paved the way to the
Alliance Bristol finals for the Stratford Canadian Tire Major Bantam Warriors,
as they trounced the London Jr. Mustangs 6-1 in their semi-final series,
Wednesday night at the Allman Arena. The win marked the Warriors second
consecutive series sweep of the 2016/2017 postseason, eliminating London in
three straight games and running their playdown win streak to six straight.
Stratford has outscored their opponents by a 30-6 margin over the stretch and
have saved some of their best hockey for the right time of the season.
With Stratford off to a sluggish start, Rusen Steele, the captain, took the team on his back and provided the spark they needed with two goals in under five minutes, and the Warriors never looked back from there. He also added three assists in the onslaught. After the Rusen Steele tallies, the floodgates opened, as Jared LeSouder, Jacob Wiles, Connor Hill and Ben Tenhag scored second period markers to put Stratford up by six going into the intermission. Tate Gaylor had two assists, with Adam Windsor, LeSouder, Kayden Schooley, Ben Wyatt and Minor Bantam call up Jack Whitehead, picking up individual helpers.
Stratford, who played the series down three regulars, now sits and waits for the winner of the Kitchener Jr. Rangers and London White Mustangs, who are tied at 1 game apiece, to play for Bristol Division supremacy. They have also gained a berth in the 2017 Bantam A OHF Championships, being held from April 6 till 8 in Oakville Ontario.