The ‘07 Minor Peewee Rep team, sponsored by Royal LePage Hiller Realty travelled to Newmarket this weekend to participate in the 33rd Annual Silver Stick Tournament and came away with the silver medal!
In their first game of pool play action the Warriors faced off against the Burlington Cougars Tier 1 Blue team. End to end action kept both teams pushing hard and netminder Zack Irvin coming up with clutch saves! A scoreless game until the final minutes of the game, saw the Warriors finally get on the board when Grady Murphy netted a feed from Carter Petrie and then moments later Murphy rifled a bullet in to give Stratford a 2-0 victory.
Game two of pool play the Warriors battled the Copper Cliff Redmen. Again, it was an action packed game with both teams going the distance. Strong back checking from Aaron Green and Austin Musselman, coupled with a Ryan McGill road block in between the pipes kept the Redmen off the board. Colin Schultz drew first blood with a shot five-hole (unassisted) in the second period. The third period saw Rylan Hall feed a pass to Blair Stokes making it 2-0 for the good guys.
In their third pool play game the Warriors were up against the hometown Newmarket Redmen. The Redmen drew first blood grabbing a shorty, but Stratford responded with a goal, five hole (unassisted). The Redmen capitalized on a power play opportunity to take a 2-1 lead. But it was brief as Ryan Gansevles nabbed his first of the tournament, assisted by C.Schultz to tie the game. Zach Schultz, Blake Hodgson and Jaxson Biernes battled hard in the neutral zone with Irvin holding down the fort in net to secure the tie.
In their final pool play game the Warriors grabbed a 3-1 win over the Forest Hill Force to secure first place in their pool. McGill lead the charge in net, only allowing one goal late in the first. Stratford answered back in the second when Petrie went top shelf, assisted by Murphy. Moments later Murphy netted another for the go ahead goal, assisted by Ryan McGee and Green. Stratford was unable to capitalize on a penalty shot but did grab a third goal shorthanded when C.Schultz took advantage of the Force goalie being out of his cage.
Semi-final action saw the Warriors come up against the Mississauga Terriers. Irvin was in charge between the pipes and earned his second shut out of the tournament, stonewalling the Terrier attack. The Warriors nabbed their first goal when Gansevles tipped in a shot from Petrie in the first. C. Schultz would add a second goal in the second period, while Dawson White and Nathan Siebert held firm on the forecheck. Murphy fired a shot late in the second and Petrie hammered home the rebound, giving Stratford a 3-0 win and a birth in the finals.
The final game was a rematch of the Regional Qualifier with Stratford going up against the Burlington Cougars again. With an end to end battle for the first two periods and Irvin standing tall in net, it wasn’t until the third period that the Cougars got on the board. Stratford pushed hard looking for the equalizer and it finally came with 39 seconds left in the game when C.Schultz tipped in a shot from Green, assisted by Petrie to force overtime. Reminiscent of the qualifier again the boys played 3-3 hockey for an intense 10 mins but this time no decision was made. A second round of 3-3 was needed to and it was the Cougars who prevailed, having the puck luck on their side.
Next action: Home Game~ Sunday Jan 20 vs Burlington Cougars Tier 1 White @ 5:15 ~ Molson