Oct 28, 2016 | sjeffrey | 851 views
Kitchener Oktoberfest Tournament
The Dunny’s Major Atom MD kicked off tournament
play at the Kitchener Oktoberfest Tournament. With a guarantee of four games,
the young Warrior squad was looking forward to building on team play, to get a
win under their belts. With hard work, dedication, and perseverance the team took on some very well matched teams and improved their play throughout the weekend.
In the first game of pool play, the Stratford squad was slow out of the gate with the Kitchener Jr Rangers Red taking advantage to score a few quick goals in the first few minutes of play. Stratford goalie Hutton Patterson battled hard and made several big saves, allowing the Warriors to settle in and put up a solid defensive front. The line of Jack Buckley, Jakob Dugas, and Adam Jeffrey had some great scoring chances early in the second but couldn’t get past Kitchener’s goalie to put one on the scoreboard. Strong play at both ends by defensemen Nate Framst and Jackson Campbell, both with some scoring chances in the third. Short a few pockets of play where the Warriors let our opponents in, an all around solid effort by the whole team.
In game two, the Warriors faced a confident Oakville Rangers team. Game play started with the Warriors off to a strong start, killing off 2 penalties in the first. Netminder Devon Loerzel was stellar in net, keeping the game scoreless until the end of the first when Oakville finally buried one in. The second period kicked off with a strong first shift and scoring chances by the line of Cole Humphrey, Nolan Trainor, and Braydon Gerber. While Devon continued to make great saves throughout the second and third, the Oakville offense wore the Warriors down, putting in 4 more before the end of the period, and a few more to walk away with the win.
On Saturday, the Dunny’s Source for Sports Major Atom MD Warriors looked to build on this effort in game three against the Burlington Bulldogs. The Warriors led the first period in shots, but the boys just couldn’t capitalize on the scoring chances. Loerzel was back in net, and again, making the big saves to keep us within 1 goal by the end of the first. In the second, Stratford’s persistence paid off, with a breakaway goal by Jakob Dugas. The Bulldogs turned it around on us with a power play goal, followed by 2 more quick goals to make it 1-4 at the end of the second. In the third, the Warriors came together to kill off over 4 minutes of short-handed play, including a 5-on-3, keeping the Burlington offense out of the net for most of the period, scoring just 2 more goals to end in a 1-6 final.
The Warrior squad saved their best game for last against the North London Nationals. Having played this team in the first exhibition game of the year, the team was out to prove how far they’ve come. The strong defensive effort of Noah Roth, Eric Haynes, Tyson Malcho, Noah Rankin, Nate Framst, and Jackson Campbell kept the game scoreless and netminder Hutton Patterson with a shutout for the first 17 minutes of play. The relentless offense of the Nationals broke through to put 4 in before the end of the second. With a sweet pass from defenseman Nate Framst, Jakob Dugas put one past the Nationals to keep the team close in the third. Offensive line Lachlan MacArthur, Austin Cosstick, and Jack Murphy were moving the puck well to get some chances in the third, and all around strong efforts by the whole team in both ends kept the goals against to 6 to end the game.