Stratford Atom Rep Warriors, sponsored by Perth Auto Dismantlers, played their first regular season game on September 13, 2019 versus the Woodstock Navy Vets.
Quinn Smith started between the posts. In the first minute of play, Jack Bannon took the first shot at net. Jake Schultz and Nate Van Bakel followed with another struggle at the net to get a goal. Cam Munroe, Caden Ollson and Schultz took more shots on the Woodstock net but they were blocked. Stratford had work to defend, at the 24 second mark due to a penalty kill.
The second period had Stratford battling a few more penalty kills to keep 0-0 on the scoreboard. Strong defensive play by Rowan Green, Owen Blackburn and Griffin Harvey kept Woodstock our of our zone. Bannon tried another shot from the point but he was left empty-handed.
Going into the third period there was still no score. At the 12:31 mark, Woodstock scored from a battle in front of the net. At 8:42 Woodstock had a power play. At 7:32 it was 5 on 3 for Woodstock, but Stratford kept strong on the ice, with several saves by Quinn Smith to keep the score at 1-0. Shots by Reid Morris, Nate Van Bakel, Jake Schultz and Griffin Harvey just could not make it past the pads. At the 3:09 minute mark, Stratford was on another penalty kill, but saves by Smith kept us in the game. Several penalties late in the third saw Stratford on a 4 on 4, then us ahead with a 4 on 3. With 1:25 left in the game Stratford pulled the goalie to get 5 players onto the ice, versus 3. The game ended with a Stratford penalty play with a pulled goalie, but the Atom Reps ran out of time. The game ended with an empty net goal making the score 2-0 for Woodstock. It was an action packed season opener!
The next game will be on Sunday, September 15, at the RBC against the London Junior Knights White, at 1:30 pm.
By Tarra Green