Minor Midgets Fall in Silver Stick International Final, Bring Home Silver.
Written by Dave Graff. The SMHA Stratford Motor Products Minor Midget rep
team competed in the Newmarket A International Silver Stick Championships on
the weekend taking a 5-0 record into the Championship game where a determined
Ajax team took home the coveted silver plated stick with a 2-1 victory over the
Warriors. It was still a successful weekend for our local lads, finishing
as the 1st seed after completion of the 12 team round robin play and
eventually bringing home silver medals.
Two early defensive breakdowns by the Warriors in the final led to two early Knight goals putting Stratford behind the eight ball early. Goaltender Nolan Traynor shut the door from there on and despite a Maverick Mulder goal late in period two assisted by Zach Carman and Ryan Adriaanse that gave the Warriors some life, the third ranked A team in the province could not find the equalizer against the 10th ranked Knights.
Earlier Sunday in the semi-final the Warriors upended Centre Wellington 2-0 in a rematch of the regional qualifier final in November also won 2-0 by the Warriors. Traynor was very solid in goal stopping all 17 shots he faced including a few dandy saves in the second period to keep the Warriors ahead by one until a top shelf Patrick Holloway tally gave the Warriors some breathing room and sealed the trip to the final. Luke Gaylor opened the scoring early in the second period. Braydon Tinning, Owen Duiker, Adriaanse and Owen Singer had assists in the win.
Stratford started round robin play Friday with a 5-0 win over host Newmarket. Holloway lit the lamp twice while Calaen Trupp, Will Schlotzhauer and Adriaanse had one each. Singer chipped in with three helpers, Holloway and Gaylor had two each while Carman and Adriaanse had one a piece. Traynor recorded the shutout in goal.
Later Friday the Warriors won again by a 5-0 score this time over the Tri-Valley Blue Devils (San Jose, California). Nathan Graff led the way offensively with two tallies while Singer, Duiker and Carter Musselman had one each. Aiden McMann, Adriaanse, Holloway, Singer and Mulder had assists. Tallyn Soper recorded the shutout in the Warrior net.
Round Robin game three Saturday saw the Warriors jump out to a quick 3-0 lead on Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania) in an eventual 3-1 win. Trupp, Gaylor and Mulder found the back of the net for Stratford with McMann, Jack Whitehead, Schlotzhauer and Graff contributing a helper each.
Stratford wrapped up round robin play on Saturday night with a 4-2 win over league rival London Mustangs White giving the Warriors an unblemished 4-0 record and the top seeded spot going into semi-final play. Carter Musselman scored two beauties in this one while Adriaanse and Bantam call up Jacob Hall added one a piece. Whitehead had two assists while Holloway, Hall, Mulder, Gaylor and Adriaanse also had an assist.
The Warriors face Kitchener in league play Tuesday night with five regular season games left before the AA playoffs begin.