U14 Warriors defeat St Thomas in round 1, News, U14, U14-U15 (Bantam), 2021-2022 (Stratford Minor Hockey Association)

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This Team is part of the 2021-2022 season, which is not set as the current season.
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Mar 07, 2022 | Katie Bauld | 482 views
U14 Warriors defeat St Thomas in round 1
The U14 Warriors defeated the St Thomas Jr Stars last night in a nail biter game 3 in their first series of the Bristol playoffs.



The series began March 2nd, where the Warriors had home ice advantage playing in one of the oldest arenas in the world, the William Allman Memorial Arena, or as known to the locals, as the ‘old barn’. The Warriors got on the score sheet early with 3 quick goals in the first period, scored by Casen deGraaf, Cole Hishon and Tim Kraayenbrink respectively. St Thomas answered back with one goal in the first. The second period saw lots of back and forth play, ending scoreless. The third period got exciting with Stratford adding 2 more goals, by Blake Lalande and Ty Wheeler, while St Thomas also added 2 more to the score sheet. The game finished with the Warriors on top, 5-3.


Game 2 took the Warriors back to St Thomas, where the Warriors battled hard but were not able to complete the sweep. St Thomas topped the Warriors 3-2. Warrior goals were scored by deGraaf and Kraayenbrink.


Game 3 brought the Warriors back to home ice, now at the Duff. Nerves were palpable as the team has had a history of ties and losses this season on this ice pad, and no wins. Tonight was a night the team needed a win to move on. The game was full of battles, big hits, slap shots and teamwork. The first and second period were hard fought by both sides, and finished scoreless. After a brief break with a flood, the Warriors returned to the ice with fire inside of them. Shortly after puck drop, Wheeler netted the first goal of the game. Unfortunately, St Thomas answered back with their first goal of the game on a power play. Stratford continued to push hard and were rewarded with the game winning goal by Colten Brenzil. Stratford held on for the final minutes of the game, despite a hard push by St Thomas with their netminder pulled and an extra attacker added to their force. Cole Hishon laid it all out, literally, blocking a slap shot by St Thomas’ defence to maintain the lead. Goalie Jake Taylor was solid throughout the game with many great saves. 


Congratulations Warriors - a solid team effort by all!


Series 2 of the Bristol Playoffs will begin later this week where the Warriors will face rivals London Jr Mustangs Purple.


*Photo credit: Heather Bridges