Dec 15, 2022 | Dan Daum | 254 views
Warriors Gaining Traction
The Sutton Group First Choice Realty U14 Warriors were back in action on Sunday to take on the Stars from St.Thomas. They didn't waste any time and came out of the gate flying as they and were all over the Stars. The Warriors capitalized on the early energy with a nice goal coming from a defenceman on a nice play that beat the unprepared tender.
Stratford wasn't done there as they continued to carry the play and dominate in the offensive zone. After a nice passing play down low the final pass was converted by the wide open player left unchecked in the slot for a 2-0 Warrior lead with 5:30 left in the period. Just under a minute later with Stratford set up in the Stars zone a wildly bouncing puck skipped out to the neutral zone and it was a St.Thomas player who had the forward momentum coming out of his zone that was the first player to the puck and found himself on a breakaway and made the most of the puck luck when he buried a hard shot top shelf to get the Stars on the board. The Warriors would have a chance on the powerplay late in the period but nothing would come of the man advantage, 2-1 Stratford after 1 period of play.
The Warriors would start the second period on the attack once again with two quality chances early, one at the left side of the net and the second a point black rocket that caught the top of the goalie's shoulder and sailed over the crossbar. Stratford would find themselves shorthanded at the 12:18 mark but were able to fend off the St.Thomas charge. With the Warriors back to full strength and looking to get the momentum back a pass from the corner was sent to the front of the net with pinpoint accuracy and was potted by the waiting forward. 3-1 Warriors. The Stars pushed back and were able to get some pressure in the Stratford zone and were eventually rewarded when a tight angle shot banked in off of the Warrior netminder to close the lead to 3-2. St.Thomas seemed to get some jump and were looking to equalize the game when one of their forwards broke loose on a breakaway and made a nice deke that would shake most goalies but the Warrior goalie matched him move for move and made the save. With less than 4 minutes to play the Warriors found themselves back on the powerplay and after 24 seconds and a few nice passes they were on top 4-2. They decided to keep the train rolling and just 6 seconds later got the puck deep into the Stars zone and centered the puck from behind the net to a cutting forward who made no mistake to put the Warriors up 5-2. St. Thomas was able to shake out the cobwebs and generate a few chances that culminated with a goal scored on a backhander with 58 seconds left in the frame. 5-3 Warriors after 2.
After the Zamboni made the rounds the teams were back to business. St.Thomas would have an early chance after the last Warrior back blew a tire in the neutral zone which lead to breakaway that was turned aside by the Warrior goalie who was then bombarded when three other players came crashing in. An injury on the play forced the Warrior goaltender from the game with 14 minutes left on the clock. The teams would spend the next few minutes trying to establish momentum and at the 10:30 mark a loose puck in the high slot of the Stars zone was gathered by a Warrior player who ripped a shot to the top of the net to put the Warriors up 6-3. The Warriors almost put the nail in the coffin with 8:15 left but the Stars goalie made a ridiculous save to keep his team in it and they responded with determined effort which forced Stratford into taking a penalty with 6:56 remaining. With the Stars poised to mount a comeback with the man advantage the power play started in the Warrior zone but some hard work by the penalty killing unit generated a shorthanded breakaway but the St.Thomas goalie made another great save on a shot that was wired for the top blocker side. The Warriors were able to kill the rest of that penalty but were once again shorthanded with 4:45 to play. The Stratford netminder was the star of this penalty kill as he turned away high shots, low shots, tipped shots and screened shots! As the penalty expired the Warrior goaltender made another nice save off of a deflection but the ensuing rebound was tapped in to give the Stars hope, it was still a 6-4 Stratford lead. With St.Thomas still charging, a point shot was tipped home with 2:10 remaining bringing the score to 6-5 Stratford. With the Warriors clinging to a one goal lead and the Stars pushing for the late comeback a careless St.Thomas penalty with 1:09 left gave the Warriors leverage to seal the deal which they did on a beautiful goal that was created by a dirty dangle from the Warrior forward in the Stars zone. Stratford finished on top 7-5 and will look to build on their performance moving forward.