Oct 09, 2017 | THeinbuch | 229 views
Thanksgiving Weekend Wrap Up - By Erin Heisz
The Scotiabank Major Peewee Rep Warriors faced two tough opponents this weekend — St.
Thomas and Brantford. Although the boys played hard we lost 6-3 and 6-1. Both goalies
showed amazing athleticism with many outstanding saves and the scores did not reflect their
huge efforts at all.
STRATFORD WARRIORS VS ST. THOMAS STARS
The Scotiabank Major Peewee Rep Warriors travelled to St. Thomas to play the Stars on Saturday afternoon. The first shift started off unluckily when a puck took a bad bounce off a Warrior’s skate and went in our net. We were shorthanded for 2 minutes and Ethan Pearce got on a breakaway but the Stars broke it up. The Stars then scored two quick goals to make it 3-0. Ayden Hakkers got a good shot on net.
Coincidental minors started off the second period and the score was 4-0. The Warriors got a power play and started heating up their offence. Cole Meadows shot high and Jared Gould tipped it down into the net with Jake Heinbuch getting an assist too! Goaltender Liam Parsons was saving rapid fire shots from the Stars. Luke Zorgdrager made a great outlet pass to Hakkers. Hakkers got on a partial breakaway and with his patent move backhand shot it under the goalie’s arm to make it 4-2. We got another power play but the St. Thomas penalty kill was tough and we didn’t get any scoring chances.
An early goal in the 3rd period got us down by 3, score 5-2. Parsons made a great poke check save under pressure. The Warriors got a penalty and Parsons rose to the challenge. He made a fabulous splits save, gliding from side to side in the nick of time. Shots rang out as they hit his pads, chest and stick. Just when you thought he couldn’t stretch any further he got that extra inch and saved another one! Luke Heisz stayed solid when a 2 on 1 and later a 3 on 1 bore down on him. Zach Richardson made a play up to Pearce. Pearce put it in through the 5 hole with a bad angle shot from the corner! The Warriors never gave up and stood toe to toe with a very tough team for the last half of the game — good effort boys. The final score was 6-3.
STRATFORD WARRIORS VS BRANTFORD 99ers
The Scotiabank Major Peewee Rep Warriors hosted the Brantford 99ers for a home game Thanksgiving Sunday. Fans always enjoy watching play against Brantford as they are known to have polite fans and clean games. The first period was a lot of play in the middle ice with no shots on net for either side until only 4 minutes left in the period. Sam Jeffrey was showing his wheels defensively and also moving the puck up with some nice passes. Kiefer MacNeil dove out for a puck then had to make a quick leap back into net on the opposite side - it was impressive! Jeffrey had 2 shot blocks in a row as Brantford put the pressure on. The 99ers scored to end the period.
MacNeil had an awkward shot bounce off his back and into the net to make it 2-0. A rocket hit MacNeil’s stick and the sound was so loud fans worried about a snapped twig. A 99ers sniper took a one timer shot from the point and it went off MacNeil’s shoulder but into the net. Warriors
got on the power play and Owen Holloway had a scoring chance. Wes Duiker and Jeffrey had to come top speed off the bench when a rush began during a line change. They got there in time and shut it down well! Kaden Brame was making good plays at the blue line and was there many times to help the defence. MacNeil was making save after save with the unrelenting 99ers pressure. Luke Zorgdrager was getting the puck out of the zone and had a great poke check. MacNeil made 3 quick saves in a row but finally they broke through and made it 4-0. Jared Gould and Jake Heinbuch were trying their hardest to get some plays going but every time they got shut down midway.
The 3rd period saw the Cole Meadows, Heinbuch and Gould line reap their reward for their steady passing efforts. Meadows shot and got his own rebound to shoot again and that rebound went out to Heinbuch in the slot. Heinbuch made the perfect shot to tickle the twine! MacNeil was trying to generate offence as well with a poke pass out to the offence. The only Warriors penalty of the game was called for hooking. Duiker got down on 1 knee for a great shot block. Ryan Middegaal had a strong penalty kill. MacNeil’s stick got knocked away again. At one point it looked like he was playing with a stick from a 99er - is that a penalty? Danny Van Straaten was working right til the end with a chance on a rebound. MacNeil stared down a breakaway and survived a big scramble in his crease. The game ended 6-1 but we know next weekend will be a different story — look out Kitchener and Sarnia here we come!