The ‘07 Major Peewee Rep team, sponsored by Scotiabank faced off against the number one seeded London Jr. Knights White for Games 3 and 4 of their 6 point series, earning two wins and a berth to the AA finals.
Game three went Friday night in London, and Stratford emerged with a 2-1 victory. The Warriors closed out the first period on the penalty kill where Aaron Green, Austin Musselman, Zach Schultz, Rylan Hall, Griffin McGregor, and Ryan McGee battled hard in front of netminder Zack Irvin to hold off the London attack. Mid-way through the second Blair Stokes and Nathan Siebert worked hard on the forecheck to get the puck to Colin Schultz who put Stratford on the board 1-0. Unfortunately, it was a short lived lead as London answered back to tie the game. Finally, in the third period Murphy sent the puck to Carter Petrie who ripped one in for the 2-1 lead. London fought hard in the closing minutes of the game looking for the equalizer but Irvin had other plans, coming up with a huge toe save with less than a minute left to play.
Saturday night the boys were looking to close out the series with a win or a tie but London was not going down without a fight. After a hot warm up from goaltenders Ryan McGill and Zack Irvin, Irvin was tested early in the first and came up with some huge sliding saves. Stratford scored first when Grady Murphy fired one in off a feed from Carter Petrie. Blair Stokes capitalized on a powerplay opportunity with helpers coming from Colin Schultz and Petrie, giving Stratford a 2-0 lead to close out the first. The second period saw Irvin standing on his head as Stratford played short handed more often than not. London found the back of the net to open the third, cutting the lead in half. But Blake Hodgson had other plans as he nabbed two goals off feeds from Dawson White, Aaron Green and Schultz, giving Stratford a 4-1 win!
The Warriors will now play in the AA finals, looking for a berth to the Ontario Hockey Finals.
NEXT ACTION: TBD