Apr 07, 2017 | MGraham | 981 views
OHF Championships - Game 1
The Stratford Canadian Tire Major Bantam Warriors kicked off the 2016/2017 OHF Bantam ‘A’ Championships in Oakville this morning, and picked up right where they left off, beating their arch rivals from the Alliance, the London Jr. Mustangs, 4-2. Stratford beat London 4 games to 1 in the Alliance finals two weeks ago to earn a berth in the tournament, with London earning a berth due to the GTHL not sending a team to the championships.
Stratford opened the scoring quickly at 12:43 of the opening frame on Ben Ten Hag’s rebound goal, assisted by Jared LeSouder and Jacob Wiles. Three minutes later LeSouder scored to make it 2-0 Stratford, with Tate Gaylor and Ten Hag assisting. By the time the first period was over, Stratford was up-3-0 on Cohen LeSouder’s tally, with Jared LeSouder picking up his second assist of the morning. Noah Rusen Steele also assisted.
London came on strong in the second period but the Warrior’s weathered the storm, heading into the second intermission with a 3-1 lead. Stratford started the third with a two man advantage, and LeSouder picked up his fourth point of the night, scoring on the power play to give the Warriors a 4-1 lead. Callum McMann and Rusen Steele picked up assists on Stratford’s final goal of the game. London scored once more in the third but was unable to close the gap past a two goal differential.
Stratford plays their second game of the round robin this afternoon against the OMHA champion Barrie Colts, at 3:00 p.m.