The Stratford Canadian Tire Warriors opened their 2017/2018
season this past weekend, starting the Alliance major bantam campaign off with
a 6-1 win over the Hamilton and a 4-3 loss to the Cambridge Hawks.
The Warriors opened the season at home Saturday, and were edged 4-3 despite a valiant push at the end to tie the game. Maverick Mulder scored the first goal of the season for Stratford on a shot from the point that found the top corner through a maze of players, with Patrick Holloway picking up the assist. Stratford trailed 2-1 heading into the third, but a power play marker from Carter Musselman evened the score, with 12 minutes to play. Nathan Graff and Owen Duiker had the helpers on the equalizer.
Cambridge went ahead 3-2 with 7:24 remaining, but with three minutes left Cambridge took a penalty and the Warriors pulled the goalie to gain a two man advantage. Stratford applied good pressure but Cambridge found the back of the empty net from 190 feet away, gaining the two goal advantage.
Stratford did not quit though, and with the goalie on the bench again and Cambridge in more penalty trouble, drew within one again with 1:10 remaining, on a goal from Owen Fraser. Caelan Trupp picked up the assist. The Warriors continued to push for the tie and Fraser just missed on a shot from the deep slot with 9 seconds remaining. All three Stratford goals were power play markers.
Stratford travelled to Hamilton on Sunday and dominated the hometown Huskies, 6-1. Holloway led the offense with two goals and an assist, while Curtis Taylor also had a pair of goals. Individual tallies went to Mulder, with his second of the season, and Caleb Musselman, who also had an assist. Fraser and Carter Musselman each had a pair of assists, with individual helpers going to Zach Carman, William Schlotzhauer, Erik Smith, and Jack Whitehead. Two of the six Warrior markers were on the powerplay.