This past weekend the Novice Tier 1 Warriors
sponsored by Evoke Marketing were away at their 1st tournament of the year and
had a successful outcoming, finishing with the Silver in a tight and exciting
overtime finish.
Game 1 would have the boys face an undefeated Lincoln Blades squad. Stratford was full of energy and their team play was to be impressed with. Hudsyn Chaput with 2 in the game, would put the boys on the board early with a perfect pass from Caden Ollsen, a play that started on the back end from Owen Blackburn. The Blades would tie the game shortly after and take the lead very early in the 2nd frame, but that was the last time the boys would find themselves behind as they would pull away with the 6-3 victory, while outshooting the Blades by a count of 36-21. Also finding their way to the scoresheet for Stratford was Maddyx Chaput with the hat trick and Jake Schultz had a single. Also earning helpers on Warrior goals were Nate VanBakel, Tyler Jackson and Owen Blackburn. Carter Keating played a stellar game in the pipes and earned himself player of the game.
Game 2 was against the Lambeth Lancers. The boys would find themselves in trouble early as they came out with a slow start and would find themselves behind 4-1 at the end of the 1st period. It was this game that the coaching staff was most proud of as they showed a relentless effort as they would claw back into the game to take the win 7-5 and head into Saturday morning full of confidence and focus on what they had intended to do, a birth in the finals. Maddyx Chaput would have a hot stick this game earning his 2nd hat trick of the tournament and player of the game also. Caden Ollson would also score a beauty on a breakaway where he would make no mistake finding the mesh glove side. Also scoring for the Warriors would be Jake Schultz with a single and Hudsyn Chaput had a pair. Helpers for the Warrior goals were earned by Reid Morris, Griffin Harvey, Owen Blackburn, Graedon Smith and Maddyx Chaput.
Saturday morning would have the boys playing the host Collingwood Blackhawks. Stratford would jump out to a 2-0 lead and continue a pattern of being a couple goals ahead the entire game. As the Blackhawks would try to catch up with a goal, the Warriors would find the back of the net each time to maintain their 2 goal lead to an eventual 6-3 win on the morning. Leading the scoring for boys would be Hudsyn Chaput with the hat trick. Tyler Jackson, Jake Schultz and Maddyx Chaput each had single markers. Earning the assists for the Warrior goals were, Nate VanBakel, Griffin Harvey, Piers Murray and Will Pepper. Caden Ollson also had an assist, but it was his gritty battling that earned him player of the game.
Game 4 was against the Erin Hillsburg Devils. The coaching staff would challenge the boys and shuffle the lines in search of the Warriors 4th win of the tournament, to complete a clean sweep in the round robin play of 4-0. Success was found as the boys would pull off a 7-6 victory over a hungry Devils squad, attempting to blemish Stratford's clean record. Jack Haines and his defence partner Owen Blackburn played a strong game for the Warriors on the blueline, but it was Jake Schultz that would catch the player of the game award as he would find the back of the net for the Warriors. Also scoring were the Chaput boys. Helpers were earned by the Caden Ollson with (2), Reid Morris, Jack Haines, Piers Murray, Jake Schultz, Will Pepper, Jack Bannon and Hudsyn Chaput.
The Finals were set and this was a matchup worth the price of admission. Stratford would face Lambeth for the 2nd time in the tournament. Lambeth would once again find the early lead at the end of the 1st frame by a score of 2-1. The second period would belong to Stratford as they would outscore Lambeth by a score of 3-2. This would be the tone for the remainder of regulation as both squads would find themselves heading to overtime to decide the game. Unfortunately puck luck was not on their side as Lambeth would find a loose puck early in the OT to pull off the win 6-5. Scoring for the Warriors would be Nate VanBakel, Caden Ollson, Tyler Jackson, and Hudsyn Chaput(2). Earning the assists were Tyler Jackson, Will Pepper and Hudsyn Chaput had (3). Jack Bannon and Jack Haines played strong defence and Carter Keating was strong in the net ( as he was the entire weekend ), but it was Griffin Harvey that earned player of the game for the Warriors with his strong defensive play.
The coaching staff was extremely proud of the boys as they would demonstrate a great improvement on team play and all showed an excellent compete level with a no quit attitude which they thought was great! Congratulations on a job well done this weekend Warriors!
Next action for the boys will be a home game against the London Bandits Saturday 28th and will visit North London on Sunday afternoon. Both games will be 1st time matchups for the season with both squads.