Written by Maureen Whitehead. The top-ranked Stratford Jr Warriors Midget team began the
semifinals of the Alliance playoffs against the 4th place Waterloo Wolves on
the weekend.
On Saturday night in Stratford, Eric Roes opened the scoring in the first period on a nifty passing play from Noah Rusen-Steele and Ben Wyatt. Callan Ferguson and Caleb Musselman both scored in the 2nd period, with assists going to Tate Gaylor and Patrick Holloway, but Waterloo got on the board with a power play goal with less than 2 minutes left in the period. Despite sustained pressure from the Wolves in the 3rd, Holloway put the game out of reach after converting a beautiful pass from Roes. Rusen-Steele also assisted.
On Sunday in Waterloo, the Wolves scored 3 power play goals in a 3-3 tie. Ferguson gave Stratford an early lead when he scored two minutes into the game, with assists going to Caleb Musselman and Luke Gaylor. Waterloo tied the game in the 2nd period but Stratford answered when Gaylor converted a power play goal from Ferguson and Holloway. Gaylor scored again in the 2nd period on a nice feed from Adam Windsor in front of the net. Tate Gaylor also assisted. With two and a half minutes left in the 3rd period the Wolves scored, then with their net empty and still on the power play, they got the equalizer with 1 second left in the game. Overtime did not solve anything and the Warriors came home with a 3 points to 1 lead in the series.
Game 3 is Saturday at 8:00pm at the Rotary Complex.