Written by Maureen Whitehead. The SMHA Jr Warriors Midget team had a busy weekend, playing
Friday night in London and Saturday and Sunday in Stratford.
On Friday night, two goals from Riley Mathieson and one from Luke Gaylor gave the Warriors a 3-1 win over the GLHA Junior Mustangs White team. A nicely executed power play gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the first period when Noah Rusen-Steele and Patrick Holloway assisted on Mathieson’s first goal. Mathieson found the back of the net again in the second period, assisted by Jared LeSouder and Cohen LeSouder. Luke Gaylor made it 3-0 when he scored, short-handed, assisted by Caleb Musselman and Callan Ferguson. The Mustangs scored in the first minute of the 3rd period but the Warriors came out with the 3-1 win.
On Saturday, the team was joined by some of the SMHA Novice Tier 3 players in warmup and for the national anthem before defeating the Waterloo Wolves 4-0, to the delight of the Novice boys. Tate Gaylor opened the scoring with a slapshot from the point, assisted by Braydon Tinning and Carter Musselman. Caleb Musselman made it 2-0 in the second period when he skated out from the corner and scored top shelf from the hash marks. Mathieson had the assist. In the 3rd period, Holloway took a nice pass from Jared LeSouder and made it 3-0. Adam Windsor then won a face-off in Waterloo’s end and got the puck back to Musselman who scored his 2nd of the night. Carson Knott had the shutout in net.
On Sunday, the 1st place Warriors took on the 2nd place London Jr Knights. The Warriors came out flying, taking an early 1-0 lead. Luke Gaylor won the opening face-off and got the puck to Caleb Musselman who beat the Knights goalie 7 seconds into the game. London tied it up two minutes later but that would be the only one they would get past goalie Kyle Powers. Rusen-Steele converted a power play goal from Holloway and Tate Gaylor, to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead going into the 2nd period. Windsor scored two goals in the 2nd frame, with assists going to Jack Whitehead, Ferguson, and Tate Gaylor. Luke Gaylor and Ferguson had power play goals in the 3rd to make it a 6-1 final. Caleb Musselman and Windsor had the helpers. The Warriors head into the holidays in first place with a 20-0-2 record.